The View From Here
by hey cool
Summary: A terrible tradegy strikes in Hillridge, and one of their own is taken.
1. Prologue

I nervously kicked at the rock on the ground, sitting on a bench in our high school parking lot. My friend Gordo said that he wanted to talk to me, that it was urgent. But he was late, and I sat there wondering why.   
  
Why did he want to see me?   
  
And where was he?  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
I was finally going to do it.  
  
I am going to tell Lizzie how I feel.  
  
Wait, no I can't, what if she does not feel the same way?  
  
She is probably waiting outside for me.  
  
I ran my fingers through my hair once more, and I ran through my speech mentally again.  
  
"Lizzie...I don't really know how to tell you this but, I have loved you..."  
  
This sounded dorky. I couldn't do this. I would not do this.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
I have to be to my work in fifteen minutes. I cannot wait on Gordo much longer. If he does not come in the next five seconds, I'm leaving.  
  
5  
  
4  
  
3  
  
2  
  
I gathered my books up, and stood up. Gordo was probably not going to come.  
  
Walking across the crosswalk, I heard a voice calling.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
After much mental pep talk, I finally convinced myself to confront Lizzie.  
  
However, by the time I had gotten outside, she was halfway across the crosswalk.  
  
"LIZZIE! I AM SORRY THAT I AM LATE!"  
  
She whirled around to see me frantically waving my arms.  
  
Lizzie did not see the car heading straight for her. 


	2. Introductions

I awoke and wiped the sleep from my eyes. After my eyes adjusted, i saw my regular room. But it somehow seemed a little different than before.  
  
I rolled over in my bed. My back was a little stiff, and I had a slight headache.  
  
Someone started to knock on the door.  
  
"HELLO? Elizabeth Brooke Mcguire, age 17, resident of Hillridge?"  
  
"Yes?" I said, with my voice wavering a little. I did not know what to make of this strange voice. It did not sound like my mom or my dad.  
  
The door slowly creaked open. A girl, about my age, stepped in. I had never seen this girl before in my life.  
  
"Lauren," she greeted me, as she stuck out her hand for me to shake.  
  
"Where am I?"  
  
"Heaven."  
  
Whoa.  
  
"You mean...no."  
  
I ran and opened the door frantically, to find not the contents of my house, but nothing. I stumbled, finding that there was nothing to catch my fall beneath me, and Lauren grabbed me by the arm.  
  
"Yeah, Elizabeth, you died about five seconds ago. You are in heaven."  
  
Her words were too much for me to handle. I sat down on my bed and started to cry, and began asking Lauren question.  
  
"How?"  
  
She pulled a paper out of the folder that she had been carrying.   
  
"It says here....car collision....after school, in the school parking lot."  
  
It was all coming back to me now, like a flash of light.  
  
Me waiting.  
  
Me running.  
  
Gordo running after me, and yelling for me to stop.  
  
"I should of waited for Gordo."  
  
"Death is filled with what ifs. You will learn to accept that you made no mistakes when you died."  
  
My tear-streaked face looked up at hers.  
  
"Who are you anyways?"  
  
"Oh, me? I am your guardian angel, but now I am your death conselour."  
  
"Death conselour?"  
  
"Like a pyschiatrist, but to help you deal with death, not life."  
  
"But you are so young."  
  
"Well,,,you stay however you want to look like when you die. Heaven is however you want it to be."  
  
She wrapped her arms around me, and into a hug.  
  
"It will be okay." 


	3. Denial

Lauren quickly showed me around heaven. She explained to me that everyone's heaven was different. Some people's heaven was a basketball court. Heaven to me was my living room, with a slight smell of mango. I had always had loved that scent on Earth.  
  
She also showed me a televsion like device.  
  
"Use this. Each channel is a person that you cared about."  
  
I nodded silently, and she quickly took the hint that still needed some time alone.  
  
I flipped on my tv.  
  
The first channel was Kate. She was walking around the high school, with a confused look on her face. Many of her "friends" were passing her by and giving her strange looks. She walked into the usually empty bathroom on the second floor. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, as she sat down on a chair in the bathroom. Slowly as she began to compose herself, she left the bathroom. Standing there, was her boyfriend, Ethan. He had seen her go into the bathroom, and had waited there for her to come out.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
The two hugged, as Kate said, "I have lost the only friend that cared about me."   
  
This was too much for me, so I flipped the channel.  
  
Across the screen, I saw a boy walking down the street in all-black. As he waked by some passerby, whispers followed him. He soon pushed open the door of the school, and walked.  
  
Who was this guy? He did not look like any of my friends.  
  
I nervously watched as he opened the door to the school counselour.  
  
"Mr. Gordon, welcome."  
  
It was Gordo. He looked awful; he looked like he had lost weight, and had not slept in a couple of days.  
  
"I'm sorry to bug you again, but this came out, and it brought back a whole bunch of memories, and I just need to talk," he said as he thrust a newspaper into the counselour's hands.  
  
As he read the article, I leaned in closer to the tv to read what it said.  
  
Elizabeth Mcguire, age 17, was killed by a hit and run driver on Tuesday outside the Hillridge High school. She was pronounced dead on the scene, however there were several attempts to revive her. The driver has yet to be determined, but if you have any details, please call the Crime Watch number in your neighborhood.  
  
"I should have been paying attention, I could have seen the driver," Gordo said wiping a tear from underneath his eye. "It's my fault. I wanted to talk to her, and if I did not, she would already have been gone, and none of this would have happened.  
  
"It's not your fault, Gordo."  
  
"I miss her so much."  
  
"I know."  
  
The two sat in silence, as the counselour tried to think of things to make Gordo feel better.  
  
"Hey...I have an idea. Write a letter to Lizzie, write a letter to the driver, anybody."  
  
"What will that do?"  
  
I quickly turned off my tv, and buried my head into my pillow. I then decided that I would watch no more tv. Lauren apparently heard my sobs, and came into my room.  
  
"You wanna talk?"  
  
I shook my head to answer no, and she left my room in failure.  
  
After composing myself, I decided to flip on my television set on again. Quickly skipping Gordo and Kate's channels, I started to watch a new channel.  
  
I saw a blank screen for awhile, and right as I was about to change a lone girl walked onto the screen. It was Miranda. She had a nervous look on her face, and her eyes darted from side to side.  
  
She was followed by Angel Lieberman, the notorious "bad girl" of our school. Miranda soon pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and lit up one for her and Angel.  
  
"How could she?"  
  
"She blamed Gordo for your death. Even though it wasn't his fault. They got into a huge fight in the cafeteria, and Danny Kessler came to Miranda's resuce. But, she punched GOrdo in the face, and recieved an in school suspension, where she met Angel."  
  
"Danny soon broke up with her, and the combination of that and your death soon sent her over the edge. She takes drugs, drinks, and what not."  
  
I looked around to find Lauren.  
  
"I thought I told you to leave."  
  
Lauren gave me an 'I don't really care smile', and continued talking.  
  
"She also has not ate since your funeral. Without you, Gordo, or Danny around, she feels like she has no friends. And since she almost beat Gordo up, everyone steers clear of her. She took it the wrong way, and thought no one like her because she is ugly and fat. So, consequently, she stopped eating."  
  
I wanted to hit her through the tv, as I saw her and Angel smoking in the parking lot.  
  
"See how your life affected all of these lives?"  
  
I nodded silently.  
  
She handed me a letter.  
  
"Here, this just came in for you."  
  
Finally she left, giving me the privacy I needed to read my letter.  
  
It read:  
  
DEAR LIZZIE,  
  
I do not really know how to say this, but I have loved since the first day that I saw you. I blame myself for your death, since you were staying to talk to me. I just want you to know that I always got your back, Mcguire, always...  
  
"Lauren, I need to talk!"  
  
She rushed in through my door, and exclaimed, "Finally, I thought that you would never ask!"  
  
She sat down on the edge of my bed, and began to listen attentively.  
  
"Is there any way...that I can go back?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I need to straighten Miranda out, and let Gordo know that it was not his fault. Kate and I need to wrap up some loose ends too."  
  
"In dire cases, some recieve a second chance."  
  
"Okay, I want one."  
  
Lauren looked at me with an amused look on her face.  
  
"Lizzie...once you die,"  
  
"You die...I know, you have said that everyday in therapy. But just one day?"  
  
"NO, Lizzie."  
  
"I loved Gordo," I whispered in a soft voice. "I need to tell him that."  
  
"Oh, Lizzie," Lauren said as she wrapped me into a hug.  
  
I looked up at Lauren's face, and saw that her eyes were brimming with tears.  
  
"Lauren, how did you...die?"  
  
"I was 23 years old. Here, it is easier if I show you."  
  
Lauren placed her hands on my shoulders, and we were transported to another place and time.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I looked around to find myself at a rehersal dinner for a young couple. The young bride looked very familiar, and as I strained to see who it was, I saw that it was Lauren.  
  
The wedding party laughed in glee at this celebration. Everyone had smiles on their faces, and the fun seemed to never end.   
  
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew me from the dinner to another place entirely. I now found myself in the back of a limo, with Lauren and her groom.  
  
The couple laughed, kissed, and talked as they rode back to their apartment. As they got out of the limo, however, Lauren was ambushed by a mugger.  
  
"Give me your money," he demanded as he held a gun to her head.  
  
Lauren's husband worridely exclaimed, "She does not have any, it is our wedding day."  
  
Tears ran down Lauren's face as she watched the mugger drop the gun from the side of her head.  
  
"Please, just leave us alone."  
  
The mugger drew his gun up to shoot Lauren's husband, but in a second, as he shot the gun, Lauren jumped in front of the bullet.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I landed back into my room with a flash, and saw Lauren sitting beside me, sobbing into her hands.  
  
I looked at her red face, and asked, "How did you do that?"  
  
"Counselour training."  
  
We both cried for the rest of the night, thinking about our loved ones on Earth.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Being dead stinks."  
  
"Tell me about it. I drowned in boating accident."  
  
I was now attending the group therapy session that Lauren had suggested. Today's topic was Wrongful Death.   
  
"Lizzie, you are new today. How did you die?" the group leader asked in a calm voice.  
  
"Hit and run."  
  
"Do you know who it was?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, welcome, Lizzie. Everyone-"  
  
"Welcome Lizzie," the group said in unison.  
  
"So, how does that make you feel, Lizzie?"  
  
"Angry."  
  
"Do you wish to explore that feeling?"  
  
"No, "I said simply, not wanting to be in the spotlight anymore.  
  
As the group moved on to different people, I sat wondering about Miranda, Gordo, Kate, and Ethan. Had my death really affected me that much? I yearned to back to watch, even though I had rejected this idea earlier.  
  
I stood up from my chair.  
  
"Miss Mcguire, where are you going?"  
  
"I sorry...I have...to do something...I just have to go."  
  
As I exited the meeting room, I heard one of my group members say, "She is still in denial." 


	4. Chapter 4

"I want to go back...NOW!" I screamed to no one in particular, as I ascended a staircase to go my room.  
  
"Well, that's not the right attitude to have now, is it?"  
  
I turned around hearing the distinct voice of a girl about my age, but with a British accent. I whirled around to find a very polished young woman, complete with attire from the turn of the century.  
  
"Who are you?" I asked this complete stranger who had taken an interest in my affairs.  
  
"May I ask you the same thing?"  
  
"Elizabeth Mcguire. Hit and run victim."  
  
""I did not know that we were saying how we died."  
  
"I thought it was customary here..or something."  
  
"Well then, I am Victoria Smith, victim of the Titanic."  
  
My dropped open in shock.  
  
"You were on the Titanic?"  
  
"Yes...have you heard about that?"  
  
She smirked, like she already knew the answer.  
  
"Well, it was very pleasant to meet you Elizabeth."  
  
"Please, call me Lizzie. I have a question."  
  
"Very well then."  
  
I wrung my hands.  
  
"Did ever want to change someone's life after you died, because...I don't know...there life was turning into crud?"  
  
"Many times."  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"I hoped, and I watched over them."  
  
"That's all?"  
  
"That's all you need."  
  
"Okay, Vickie, I will see you around then."  
  
"Victoria."  
  
"Very well then."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
A young girl walked down the hallways of her school, uncertain of who she had become.  
  
"Sanchez, wait up!"  
  
Running up to her was the notorious school bad boy, Brady Smith.  
  
"You wanna do something tonight?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
She smiled flirtily at Brady and walked away slowly.  
  
"See you tonight," she said, as she winked.  
  
I threw my slipper at the Tv. Did she not know that Brady had the worst reputation in school? She was ruining her life.  
  
Speaking of ruined lives, I turned onto Channel 10, Gordo's channel.  
  
I saw him cleaning out his locker, and it made me remember of some humorous times we had, when he had not cleaned his locker for some time.  
  
I saw him taking down the pictures on the door, and unfold his shelves. Wait. Why was he putting everything away? I immediatley thought of the worst, but then tried to reassure myself with the idea that he was going to transfer.  
  
But still, I could not get the sight of him, walking lonely down the halls, box in hand, out of my mind.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Lizzie Mcguire. Room 1890674."  
  
The lady behind the desk typed in my room number, and waited for a second.  
  
A stack of papers popped up on the desk, and she handed them to me.  
  
I immediately took the papers up to my room, and anxiously looked through them.  
  
THE LIZZIE FOUNDATION  
  
This brochure sparked my interest. I opened it quickly, wanting to know the contents.  
  
THE LIZZIE FOUNDATION IS A SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM CREATED IN MEMORY OF ELIZABETH BROOKE MCGUIRE.  
  
I skimmed through the contents of the brochure, skipping qualification requirements.  
  
CONTACT INFORMATION  
  
KATE SAUNDERS  
  
I dropped the brochure on the floor. I was shocked. Throughout high school, we had learned not to hate each other, but we still were not best friends.  
  
I flipped the TV onto her channel. Nothing special, just her doing some homework in study hall.  
  
Astonished, I put this aside and looked at my other mail.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The young girl hopped onto the motorcycle of the boy who picked her up from her house. She laughed as she put on a helmet, and her parents watched from the window.  
  
"I worried about her. She hasn't been the same...since...you know," Miranda's mom worried.  
  
"Who is this boy she is with?"  
  
"We lost her the day Lizzie died."  
  
A tear rolled down my cheek as I watched Miranda's parents.  
  
KNOCK KNOCK  
  
"Hello, Lizzie. Please tell me why you left in the middle of your support meeting," Lauren said, sticking her head in my room with out.  
  
"It's nothing."  
  
Lauren raised an eyebrow in my direction.  
  
"Really."  
  
"Lauren, what did everyone that was special to you do after you died?"  
  
She thought for a second.  
  
"They eventually moved on, but I still linger in their hearts to this day."  
  
"Is that like a form response or something? Because I cannot get a straight answer from anyone here."  
  
Lauren looked at her feet for a second.  
  
"You wanna know the truth Mcguire? You need to stop whining, and just face the facts. YOU ARE DEAD!"  
  
My bottom lip quivered, and tears welled up in my eyes.  
  
"I am so sorry. I'm supposed to be helping you. What's the matter?"  
  
"My best friends...they are ruining their lives."  
  
"Everything will be okay, Lizzie. They have someone gwatching over them. Whatever happens, they will turn out fine."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
Lauren got up from my bed, and headed towards the door.  
  
"Oh...I know."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Miranda gulped down a shot at the minibar of the party she was attending.  
  
"Hit me."  
  
The bartender looked uneasily at her.  
  
"I think you have had enough."  
  
"I think I know when I have had enough, thank you very much," Miranda retorted, slurring her speech.  
  
He handed her a shot, and after she gulped it down, she moved on.  
  
Brady wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"Hey, Miranda."  
  
Miranda giggled and started to dance wildly. She climbed on top of the table, and danced some more.  
  
"Miranda, the bedroom is open."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I looked through some more of my mail, keeping the TV off on purpose.  
  
I found a video in a mannila envelope, so I popped it into my VCR.  
  
As the tape started to play, I saw Gordo's face on the screen.  
  
"I tried to express my feelings in writing, but I could not. Words simply cannot express what I felt for Lizzie Mcguire. Without her, a part of me is gone, and I cannot live without that part."  
  
The tape went to static, and my worst fears were confirmed.  
  
No matter what Lauren said, I could not let this happen.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Miranda and Brady both stumbled to Brady's motorcycle.  
  
They drunkedly put on their helmets, and they started onto the road.  
  
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Brady swerved into oncoming traffic.  
  
He did not see the car coming towards them.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Miranda  
  
I awoke to a completely white room. Was I in heaven? Where was I?   
  
I then remembered what had happened the night before.  
  
Crud.  
  
"Miranda? Are you awake honey?"  
  
I opened my eyes to see a doctor's face staring straight at me.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Your companion was driving drunk, and you two swerved into oncoming traffic."  
  
Oh no.  
  
"You have been in a coma for two weeks."  
  
Omigod.  
  
"We did not know if you were going to make it. Luckily you did not sustain any major injuries besides a broken wrist. It was truly a miracle. You must have someone watching over you."  
  
Must have? I do.  
  
"And there is just one more thing we discovered during our examination."  
  
The doctor frowned, and I knew it was something terrible.  
  
"You're pregnant."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
A/N: I changed the rating just to be safe. I never really know these days. 


	5. Chapter 5

"Lauren, it's an emergency. I need a second chance," I desperately begged her.  
  
"Lizzie, there are no second chances."  
  
"But, Gordo is going to kill himself...please?" I sobbed.  
  
"If it is meant to be, it will happen."  
  
"I don't want him to die, Lauren."  
  
"LIZZIE! Please just be quiet."  
  
"What is the matter with you?"  
  
"Nothing, I just don't want to talk right now."  
  
"I am in a dire situation here. And it's not just a hair or makeup thing. Gordo's life is in danger, and I need to help him in any way I can."  
  
After my last plea, something in Lauren's eyes changed.  
  
"Go back to your room and wait. I will take care of it. HURRY!"  
  
I looked at her, very puzzled.  
  
"Just go!!!"  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------I anxiously flipped on my TV.  
  
On the set, I saw Gordo standing near a cliff, with his car. He then crouched underneath it, and cut the brake line.  
  
Whatever Lauren is going to do, she better hurry.  
  
The last thing I saw before going black was Gordo, getting into his car.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
After I awoke from my blackout, I found myself sitting next to Gordo in his car, minutes away from a cliff.  
  
He was going 90 miles per hour.  
  
"GORDO!!! STOP THE CAR!!!" I yelled, but to no avail. He did not seem to hear me at all.  
  
I tried to take his hands off the wheel, but I went right through him. With this, I started to cry.  
  
"How is this going to help me Lauren?"  
  
"Here, I will show you."  
  
Suddenly time stopped, and I whirled around to see Lauren sitting in the backseat of Gordo's car.  
  
"He can't see or hear you."  
  
"I figured that out, Lauren."  
  
"When time starts again, push him out of the car."  
  
Before I could ask her how, seeing as though I could not touch Gordo, she disappeared. Time started again leaving me little time to think.  
  
I reached and pulled the handle of the car door. It swung open, and I grabbed Gordo's shoulders.  
  
"Lizzie?"  
  
I pushed him out onto the ground, and as I tried to get out of the car to talk to him, I blacked out again.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"I saw the entire thing. Are you alright?"  
  
The police officer ran over to Gordo.  
  
"Lizzie. She was there."  
  
The officer raised his eyebrows.  
  
"There was nobody in that car with you."  
  
"She was there, though. She pushed me out."  
  
"Lizzie who?"  
  
"Lizzie Mcguire."  
  
The police officer checked back into his memory, and found where he had heard that name.  
  
"Ummm....Do you want to come down to the station with me? I need you to talk to someone."  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------- 


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm not crazy, I swear."  
  
The psychiatrist, Dr. Roberts, looked over his notes again.  
  
"No, don't even look at those. Will you just let me explain myself?" Gordo pleaded.  
  
"David, it says here that you saw a vision of Elizabeth Mcguire in your car."  
  
"I did see her."  
  
Dr. Roberts frowned.  
  
"She died in a car accident."  
  
"I know that. She was my best friend."  
  
"I know...were you trying to kill yourself?"  
  
Gordo let out an exasperated sigh.  
  
"I...Lizzie...I don't know."  
  
"Have you ever wanted to inflict harm on yourself?"  
  
"I just wanted everything to go away. All the pain."  
  
"Pain?"  
  
"I loved Lizzie Mcguire. I have loved her for...forever."  
  
"She was your girlfriend?"  
  
"I never told her how I felt. I was going to that day, and she..."  
  
Gordo started to cry.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Dr. Roberts looked at him with conserned eyes.  
  
"Were you going to kill yourself David?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And, you saw Lizzie?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Did she talk to you?"  
  
"No. She just pushed out of the car."  
  
"And that is where you were found?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Was there a ray of light around her head?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Gordo smiled at the memory of seeing Lizzie.  
  
"She looked like an angel. How would you know though?"  
  
Dr. Roberts sighed.  
  
"It's a long story."  
  
"We've got time. My parents are paying for it."  
  
"I was head over heels in love with a very special girl. We loved each other so much. Our love could last a nuclear war."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"On the night of our wedding, we were mugged. I still can't remember quite what happened, except for the sight of her taking the bullet for me. It's my fault that she died."  
  
"I know how you feel."  
  
"I could not live with the thought of her suffering for me. So, I locked myself in my apartment bathroom, you know, the apartment that we would going to share, with my gun. Right when I was going to pull the trigger, I saw her."  
  
"An angel from heaven."  
  
"Right...and she pulled the gun from my hand, and threw it out the window, and I knew that she wanted me to live."  
  
"So, did Lizzie want me to live?"  
  
"That's what I like to think of it as. Because of this, I decided to devote my life to helping other headcases like me."  
  
Gordo noticed the band on his left ring finger.  
  
"But...you moved on."  
  
"No..I didn't. This is our wedding ring. I still wear it to this day. The truth is that I have not been able to move on."  
  
"So, it's okay if I will not love another girl again."  
  
"Perfectly alright. But, you know, it is okay if you do. Just think of it as Lizzie coming down from heaven to be with you."  
  
"I don't know if I can love again."  
  
"You're a good kid, David. I think you will make it. Especially since you have someone up there that loves you very much."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"I have Lauren in heaven."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Lizzie sat on her floor, captivated by the TV.  
  
"Can I come in?"  
  
"Sure," Lizzie answered.  
  
Lauren sat down on Lizzie's bed.  
  
"Thank you. For everything."  
  
Lauren smiled.  
  
"You know I hated you at first. But it was not personal. I just hated being dead."  
  
Lauren laughed.  
  
"Yeah. me too."  
  
"You purposely sent Gordo to your fiancee to help him, didn't you?"  
  
Lauren smiled.  
  
"You caught me."  
  
"Thanks for being such a great friend through all of this. Now I just have a couple of more people to straighten out."  
  
"You know, you don't have to play God."  
  
"I know. But I want to at least help my friends."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Gordo slowly put the contents of his locker back away. As her was doing this, Miranda walked up to him.  
  
Gordo slowly backed away from his once friend who had tried to beat him up.  
  
"It's okay, Gordo, I come in peace."  
  
Gordo slowly edged towards her, and smiled.  
  
"How can I be sure?"  
  
She pulled the thing she holding behind her back out.  
  
"I brought curly fries. Can we talk?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
The two walked towards the benches.  
  
"I heard...about what happened with you and Brady. Are you okay?"  
  
"How did you know?" Miranda asked, very perplexed.  
  
"Brady told everyone his first day back when you were still in the hospital, that he got Miranda pregnant."  
  
Miranda sighed.  
  
"So you know."  
  
"The whole school knows by now."  
  
The one time best friends sat in silence. Suddenly Miranda spoke up again.  
  
"I'm keeping the baby. I decided."  
  
Gordo looked up, shocked by Mirand's sudden statement.  
  
"What I did was stupid, and I have to take responsibility."  
  
Gordo smiled for the first time since Lizzie had died, or so it seemed.  
  
"You're a good kid, Sanchez. I got your back," he said, as he wrapped her into a hug.  
  
"I'm going to name her Lizzie if it's a girl, and....well, I don't have any boy names yet."  
  
The two sat in silence again.  
  
"I miss Lizzie so much," Gordo said, sadly.  
  
"So do I."  
  
"I loved her for...forever," he admitted.  
  
"Gordo....the whole school knew that, I'm sorry to say," Miranda said, laughing a little.  
  
"I didn't know how much I loved her until the day she died. I was going to tell her on that day, too."  
  
"Awww, Gordo," Miranda said, as tears rolled down her cheek. "Don't make me cry." 


	7. Lost Little Boy

"Do you realize that you cost the school eight hundred dollars in damages?"  
  
Matt could hardly restrain himself from laughing in front of the principal.  
  
"Yeah, I do realize that. But, we can all agree that it was a learning experience," he replied, making the principal's face turn very red.  
  
"What did you learn? Not to plug the water fountain, and make it so that it runs all night, flooding the entire hallway? I'm very disappointed in you Mr. Mcguire," he said, frowning. "Ever since your sister...well, you have been disbehaving left and right. I have already given you your warning, and I will have to suspend you this time."  
  
"Fine, suspend me," Matt replied.  
  
"Please do not use that tone with me, young man. Do I have to call your parents?"  
  
"Frankly, I don't think my mom would care."  
  
"Please, Matt. If you need to talk about anything, my door is open. I know that there are some...problems in your household, but you are a bright kid, and I don't want your potential to be wasted," the principal said, showing great concern.  
  
"Please, I know that the only reason everyone wants me to behave again, is so your soccer can actually win again."  
  
Matt was a very talented soccer player, and led the high school team to win state last year with his winning goal.  
  
"No, Matt, I just want you to be okay again."  
  
Matt grabbed his backpack, and stood up.  
  
"Trust me, I'm perfectly fine."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Matt slammed the door open, and threw his stuff on the ground. Because of his meeting with the principal, he had missed the bus, and he walked the entire way home.  
  
"MOM!" he yelled.  
  
"I'm in my room," his mom's voice called out from her room.  
  
Jo Mcguire had not been the same since Lizzie was killed, but she pretended that she was until the day that Sam Mcguire left the family. Why he did that, no one really knows, but Matt suspected that he wanted to leave the pain of his old life behind, and start anew.  
  
Matt climbed the stairs, and turned into Jo's bedroom. His mom was laying in the bed, her eyes bloodshot. She had been crying again. Ever since her husband had left, she had taken to her bed, watching TV reruns all day.  
  
"Hey, mom. How are you feeling?" Matt asked gently, not wanting to make her cry. Even the slightest thing could send her into a fit of tears.  
  
"I've been better. How was your day?"  
  
"Boring," Matt replied. When he would tell her that he got into trouble, she would start crying about how bad he was and why couldn't he be more like Lizzie.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"I'm going to be in my room, mom. If you need anything just holler."  
  
Matt walked into his room, slamming the door shut. His many soccer trophies gleamed, reminding him of what he used to be.  
  
"I hate my life," he said aloud, as he bent over to get something out from underneath his bed.  
  
He picked up his guitar, and sat down on his bed with it. He started to strum a tune, and soon began to sing.  
  
"Little boy lost, all alone in this world of sadness and sorrow,"  
  
"Looking for a way, to find a new tomorrow."  
  
"Give me your hand."  
  
He paused for a second, and pondered about the next verse.  
  
"I need somebody to guide me through,"  
  
"I need somebody, someone new."  
  
"Lend me your hand."  
  
He paused, and then bursted out into the chorus.  
  
"I'm lost in this world, there's no way out."  
  
"What is this pain all about?"  
  
"There must be something to help me get through."  
  
"That something could be you."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"He really is good, isn't he?"  
  
I jumped, as I was transfixed by the television, and my brother.  
  
"I didn't know that he had a passion for music. I remember when he tried to start a band, but he didn't really continue with it."  
  
"Even when you were still alive, Matt used to lock himself in his room, and practiced his guitar. He writes his own songs, you know."  
  
I gazed at the TV once again.  
  
"He is throwing his life away. If he just kept with soccer, he could of had a full-ride scholarship to college."  
  
Lauren looked at the TV too.  
  
"Matt is being forced to grow up, now, and he really cannot deal with that as well as others. With your mother, and your dad not being there, he really is having problems."  
  
"I wish I could be there for him. He just needs a little guidance."  
  
Lauren nodded.  
  
"There are ways, you know. The same thing happened with my little sister. She was an extremely talented dancer, but she started doing drugs."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I arranged for a sign to be sent down. Nothing much, just a strategically placed video tape of her first recital. It worked, and now she is a soloist with the American Ballet Theater."  
  
"I have a feeling that Matt needs more than that."  
  
Laurend thought for a second, and came up with a solution.  
  
"I know just the thing. A girl."  
  
"What? How will you do that?"  
  
"It can be arranged," Lauren replied, with a mischeivious smile, as she rushed out of the room.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Matt browsed through the music listening stations at Best Buy. Beside him, a girl about his age, was also browsing.  
  
Matt looked out of the corner of his eye, and saw that she picked up Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.  
  
"Do you like the Beatles?" he asked, initializing a conversation with her.  
  
"They are my favorite," she replied, brushing her hair out of her eyes. Now that Matt could see her face, he saw that she was extremely pretty. "Do you like them?"  
  
"I love them," he replied. "My name is Matt Mcguire. What's yours?" he asked, sticking out his hand for her to shake.  
  
She gave him a handshake.  
  
"Victoria. Nice to meet you Mcguire."  
  
Matt smiled.  
  
"Can I call you Vickie?"  
  
"No, I just like to called Victoria."  
  
"What school do you go to?"  
  
"I just moved here about a week ago, and I am currently not enrolled in any school, but I will be going to Hillridge High School."  
  
"That's where I go. We can hang out together."  
  
"That's awesome, Matt Mcguire. Listen, I have to go," she said. "But here is my screen name, and my phone number," she said, as she grabbed his hand, writing down her phone number and screen number. "Call me later."  
  
She rushed out of the store, waving her hand behind. 


	8. Soulmates

Matt nervously held the paper that he had copied down Victoria's information on. He had not thought of anything else besides her since they had met. Matt tried to dial a couple of times, but threw the phone down before he finished dialing the number.  
  
"Why I am so nervous?" he said aloud, to no one in particular. Matt usually got the girl he wanted, being the popular soccer star of the school. He usually did not have problems calling a girl, but maybe Victoria was different.  
  
He finally gathered up his courage, and dialed her number.  
  
"Hey, Victoria here. What's up?" a perky voice answered.  
  
"Victoria, this is Matt."  
  
"Oh yeah! Matt Mcguire, Best Buy boy! Of course, I remember you," she replied, and Matt let out a sigh of relief. "We didn't really get a chance to talk."  
  
"No, we didn't. What do you want to talk about?"  
  
"I don't know. What is your favorite food?"  
  
"Ummm....Everything. You?"  
  
"Oh, I love pizza. Any dogs?"  
  
"No pets."  
  
"Good, I'm allergic. Siblings?"  
  
Matt paused, and an awkward silence followed.  
  
"Are you there?"  
  
"Yeah....My only sister was killed in a hit-and-run recently."  
  
"I'm so sorry..." she replied quietly.  
  
"It's okay, you didn't know. You play any sports? he said, quickly changing the subject.  
  
"Cheerleading."  
  
"I said sports," Matt joked.  
  
"Hey! Be careful of what you say. I'm a gymnast at heart, but my school had no gymnastics team, so-"  
  
"It was your last resort? You're just like that girl from Bring it On," Matt cut in.  
  
"You have seen Bring it On?"  
  
"I've watched it."  
  
"You quoted it," she said, while she was laughing.  
  
"Well...I think watching movies like that make me more sensitive," he joked back. "What do you want to talk about now?"  
  
"Well, you could ask me out on a date," she suggested. Matt was astounded by her forwardness.  
  
"And you would say yes."  
  
"And then you would pick me up at six, for dinner and a movie."  
  
"And we would have a great time."  
  
"We would see a nice romantic comedy."  
  
"And we would go eat at....wait, a romantic comedy? What about Dawn of the Dead?"  
  
"You like those kinds of movies, remember? You are a sensitive guy," Victoria reminded him.  
  
"Fine, fine. See you tonight."  
  
"Bye, Best Buy boy," she replied, hanging up the phone.  
  
As Matt hung his phone up on the reciever, he felt a new feeling. He had dated a lot of girls in his day, but he never had felt that feeling ever. He could not put his finger on it, but there was something different about Victoria.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"How do you do it, Lauren?"  
  
Lauren had just walked into my room, and had sat down on my bed.  
  
"Do what?"  
  
I smiled.  
  
"You have a way with helping people. Did you send down Victoria from heaven for Matt?"  
  
"No, it is really complicated, but Matt and Victoria are soulmates, but they were not set to realize that for another couple of years. I just put in a request to speed up the process."  
  
I was kind of confused by this soulmate process.  
  
"So you forced her family to move to Hillridge?"  
  
"No, they were moving to Hillridge already, but they were going to be 'just friends', and not realize that they were actually in love until graduation. It is all in this book," she replied, pulling up a big book, and slamming it on my bed.   
  
She flipped it open to the M's.  
  
"See right here?" she asked, pointing to Matt's name. "Matt Mcguire, Victoria Smith."  
  
I thought that I had heard that name for a second, but I could remember where I had.  
  
"Can I see my name?" I asked. Lauren handed the book to me, and I saw my name right above Matt's. Sadly, I saw that it was crossed off.  
  
"Sorry," Lauren apologized.  
  
I turned the page to the G section, and looked up Gordo's name.  
  
Next to David Gordon's name, there was not another.  
  
"Gordo does not have a soulmate?" I asked.  
  
"He did, but she is here now," Lauren said, looking at me.  
  
This hit me with a jolt.  
  
"You mean, Gordo and I were soulmates?"  
  
Lauren sighed wistfully.  
  
"Some people never do find their soulmate."  
  
A tear ran down my cheek.  
  
"Can I see Miranda's?"  
  
Lauren took the book from me.  
  
"I think you have seen too much already," she said, standing up and leaving my room.  
  
"Lauren, wait!" I said, causing her to stop in my doorway. "What's the matter?"  
  
"I just don't want to talk about soulmates," she said icily, as she walked out of my room.  
  
I was confused. We had been such good friends lately, and I did not want to ruin it at all.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Lizzie went to go get her mail when she was eating lunch. She sat down at a table alone, and read her latest updates.  
  
Soon, she was joined by another person, who she had only met once before.  
  
"Hello," the young woman said, and when Lizzie saw her turn-of-the-century dress, she recalled who she was.  
  
"Hi, Victoria!" she cheerfully responded. "How have you been?"  
  
"Okay, but I wanted to talk to you about something else. I was watching my TV of one of my favorite descendants, and I saw someone that you know very well. You see, she was named after me, and I always felt a special connection to her-"  
  
"You are related to Victoria? MY brother's soulmate?" Lizzie exclaimed.  
  
"Yes!" Victoria responded, also excitedly.  
  
"Wow. What a coincidence, huh?"  
  
"Victoria is a very bright young girl, a cheerleader at that, with a 4.0. She is almost exactly like me."  
  
"Matt is, well, he is Matt. He is really good at soccer, and I recently discovered he is awesome at music as well," Lizzie replied. "I knew I had heard her name somewhere."  
  
"I will be watching her station now. Nice to talk to you again!"  
  
"You too. Bye!"  
  
Victoria left the table, and went to pick up her own mail.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Matt put on the sweater that Lizzie had given him for his birthday, and some cologne. He had found himself wanting to look extremely nice for Victoria Smith, and he had been looking forwards to this all night.  
  
There was something special about Victoria, and he could feel it since he had met her.  
  
Little did he know that he was going out with his soulmate. 


	9. Chapter 9

Matt drove down the street, glancing at every house number, trying to find Victoria's. He finally did, and pulled in front of it. It was a very house.  
  
She didn't tell me she was rich, he thought to himself, as he climbed out of his car. Matt was only fifteen, with only a restricted liscense, but he was a careful driver, and he had never gotten a ticket or anything.  
  
He nervously rang the doorbell, and waited until Victoria opened the door. She truly looked beautiful, even more than the first day that she had seen her.   
  
"Hi," she greeted him, with a huge smile on her face. "You clean up nice, Mcguire."  
  
"You look beautiful," he replied, still in awe of her.  
  
She blushed, and looked down at her feet.  
  
Matt smiled at his beautiful date, and led her to his car.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I looked at Victoria, whose face was glowing in the candlelight of the restaurant.  
  
"So, you play soccer, right?" she asked.  
  
Wait. I had never told her that, so how would she know?  
  
"How did you know that?"  
  
Victoria smiled, as she knew something that I did not.  
  
"I used to go to Santo Domingo High School, and..."  
  
"Hey, we played them for the soccer state championships!" I cut in.  
  
"Yeah, I knew I recognized when I met you, because I was at that game."  
  
"Cheering?" I asked.  
  
"No, my twin brother played on the team. Or actually, he was a bench warmer, but still..."  
  
"You have a twin?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Is he playing on the team this next year?" I asked.  
  
Victoria sighed, and looked down.  
  
"No...He was diagnosed with leukemia in fifth grade, and it was in remission until a month ago. We moved here so he could get better treatment."  
  
"I am so sorry," I replied.  
  
"I still am hoping that he will get better. I don't know what I will do if I lose him. We are super close."  
  
"I hope he will too."  
  
Victoria looked up again.  
  
"He was so excited when I said that I was going on a date with you. You made the winning goal, and you were so awesome in that game. Are you playing again this year?"  
  
I frowned.  
  
"No. It is really complicated."  
  
"You have to play. There is no way you can't."  
  
"I just can't bring myself to do it since Lizzie is gone. You know, about a couple of years ago, my parents started to drift apart, and they did not want to be together, so they stopped coming altogether. Every soccer game, I would look up in the stands, you know, to see if any of my parents were there, but they would not be. But, without fail, Lizzie would be there. Sometimes she would even bring her own cheering section of her friends," I replied, in a single breath.  
  
"Wow. How...are your parents doing?"  
  
I took a deep breath, hoping that I would not start crying right there.  
  
"My dad left my mom. Everyone thought it was a surprise that he did, but they did not know what was happening inside of our house, like Lizzie and I did."  
  
Victoria looked like she was going to cry herself.  
  
"And my mom takes to her bed, not doing anything. I take her to a therapist every week, but she is not getting better. But enough about my problems. I want to meet your brother."  
  
Victoria eyes brightened, and she smiled.  
  
"What about the movie?"  
  
I smiled.  
  
"I want to meet your brother."  
  
"Okay."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I watched the TV with the utmost amount of suspense. Matt and Victoria walked up to the room of her twin, and he was lying in his bed, trying to twirl a soccer ball on his finger.  
  
"Donovan? There is someone here to see you."  
  
Donovan managed a weak smile.  
  
"Hey there. Weren't you on the Hillridge High School soccer team?"  
  
Matt looked down at his feet.  
  
"I was, but I'm not playing this year."  
  
Seeing the hurt face of Donovan, and hearing Matt actually mutter those words, sent me into tears. I touched his face on the TV, and started to sob.  
  
For Matt. Victoria. Mom, Miranda, and Gordo.  
  
Donovan came back on the screen, frowning at my brother.  
  
"You need to play Matt," I said aloud, in unison with Donovan. I soon found myself laying in Donovan's bed, looking up at Matt.  
  
I looked around at my surroundings, and I was still confused.  
  
"I'm sorry, Donovan. I really can't."  
  
"No, you really have to. It is what your sister would want," I found myself saying to my brother.  
  
Matt looked at me, or should I say Donovan, with confused eyes.  
  
"Did you know Lizzie?" he asked, very perplexed.  
  
I found myself stammering for an excuse.  
  
"Sitting...in this room all day, I read the newspaper...a lot, and I saw...never mind," I replied.  
  
Even Victoria looked at me, perplexed.  
  
"Donovan, are you feeling alright?" she joked, feeling my forehead.  
  
I laughed along with the couple nervously.  
  
"So, about soccer...you are the same age as me, and you were the star of your team, and I was the benchwarmer. You have true talent."  
  
Matt blushed slightly, and smiled.  
  
"Thanks. I just don't know."  
  
Victoria spoke up.  
  
"See, Donovan thinks you should play next year too," she said, clasping Matt's hand.  
  
"Yeah, Matt. You are a great soccer player, and not going out for the team would be a waste of your talent."  
  
Victoria squeezed Matt's hand in agreement. Matt thought about it, and came up with a decision.  
  
"Okay, I will."  
  
Victoria threw her arms around him, and kissed him on the cheek. My brother truly looked happy with his new girlfriend, and as the thought passed over my mind, I found myself in front of the Tv again, like nothing had ever happened.  
  
"was that a dream?" I asked myself.  
  
"No, Lizzie, you don't dream in heaven."  
  
I turned around to find Lauren watching me. She was sitting on the floor by my door.  
  
"What was that, Lauren?"  
  
Lauren smiled.  
  
"You have the makings of a true guardian angel, Lizzie. Only an angel could have concentrated so hard that she ended up talking to someone on Earth."  
  
"What...I have had this all along?"  
  
"Yep. The first time I found out, I talked to my sister before she went onstage, in the body of a castmate."  
  
"Oh my gosh...so I am an angel?"  
  
"Pretty much."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Bye, Victoria," Matt managed to say, as he pulled away from their kiss.  
  
"Bye."  
  
With a huge smile, Matt shut the door and walked towards his car parked outside in front. He climbed in and looked back at the window to see Victoria watching him from inside.  
  
She waved slowly, and he waved back.  
  
As he drove away, Matt could not help but to think,  
  
I am the luckiest boy on Earth.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Still high on emotions from the first date, Matt helped Victoria to make it through her first day of school. They had something special that could not be broken by their classmates.  
  
"So, I have Honors Chemistry, right now. I have to go find it, so I don't show up late again. Meet you for study hall sixth hour?"  
  
Matt gazed into Victoria's eyes, in a trance almost.  
  
"Hello? Earth to Mcguire?" she said, waving her hand in front of his face.  
  
"Yeah, I will come to the chemistry room," he replied.  
  
"Ciao, Matt," she said, as she departed. Matt stood up, gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and she rushed off to one of their only classes where they were not together.  
  
Matt sat down at his table to find all of his friends staring at him. They had been watching the whole thing.  
  
"Nice job, Matt!" his friend Oscar said, giving him a high five. "How is she in the...you know...department?"  
  
Matt was irritated by his comment.  
  
"It's not about that, Oscar."  
  
"Oh, c'mon, Mcguire. That is all you are about. Besides, little Vicky there is a hot-tie," another one of his soccer buddies said.  
  
"She is different from most girls here. Victoria is special."  
  
Matt's friends all exchanged glances, and burst into laughter.  
  
"Matty is in L-U-V!"  
  
Matt rolled his eyes.  
  
"Be quiet. You're just jealous that I actually have a girlfriend, and not another bed mate."  
  
Matt threw his stuff into his backpack, and got up, astounding his friends. Lunch was almost over anyways, and there was someone he needed to talk to.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Mr. Watson, I decided I am going out for the team again next year," Matt said to the soccer coach, as he walked into his office.  
  
Mr. Watson, who was also the assistant principal, looked up from his papers.  
  
"I can't believe you changed your mind, Matt. You were pretty determined that you were quitting."  
  
Matt smiled.  
  
"Someone told me that I was wasting my talent by not trying out, and it made sense to me for the first time."  
  
"I saw your little girlfriend and you. Did she tell you? Because I have told you that dozens of times, and you didn't listen," Mr. Watson joked.  
  
"No. It was her brother," Matt joked back.  
  
"Well, it's good to have you back from the dark side. Good luck," he said, "And go to class."  
  
Matt picked up his stuff, and rushed to the chemistry room to meet Victoria.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Are you sure it's okay if I come over?"  
  
Matt led Victoria into his house.  
  
"My mom won't care. MOM?!"  
  
There was no answer, the house was silent.  
  
"She must be sleeping."  
  
Victoria slipped off her shoes, and laid her stuff by the door. Matt led her up to his room.  
  
"Sorry if it's a mess," he said, opening the door.  
  
The two entered the room, and Victoria sat on his bed, beside his guitar.  
  
"Do you play?" she asked, pointing to his guitar.  
  
"A little. I kind of tried to teach myself."  
  
Victoria smiled.  
  
"Musical and sensitive. Let's hear something."  
  
Matt blushed.  
  
"Nah. Let's work on our homework," he said, getting his book out of his backpack.  
  
Victoria did not move, or go get her stuff.  
  
"I want to hear you play," she pressed, and Matt could not help but agree.  
  
"Okay. You should know this one," he said, pulling his guitar out of the case.  
  
"There are places I'll remember. All my life, though some have changed.  
  
Some forever, not for better. Some have gone and some remain. All these places have their moments, With lovers, and friends I still can recall. Some are dead, and some are living. In my life, I've loved them all," Matt sang, and as she finished, Victoria eagerly clapped.  
  
"That was great! You should really pursue that," she said.  
  
"Nah, it's just a hobby. Besides, you're the only one I have told about it. I never even have told my mom about it."  
  
"Speaking of your mom, can I meet her?"  
  
"Sure," Matt replied, and led her down the hall to his mom's room.  
  
As he slowly opened the door, he gently said her name, trying to wake her up. But she was not in her bed.  
  
"That's weird," he said. "Maybe she is in the bathroom."  
  
Matt walked into his mom's adjourning bathroom, and saw his mom sprawled out on the floor.  
  
"Mom!" he yelled, and immediatley bent down beside her. He felt her cheek. It was stone cold.  
  
Victoria, hearing Matt's shouts, rushed in. She stopped at the doorway, her face pale.  
  
"Oh my gosh, Matt..." she stammered, seeing Matt kneeling down besides his mother.  
  
She grabbed the phone instinctively, calling 911.  
  
"Hello? I am at...." she paused, as Matt yelled out their address.  
  
"4315 Rose Hill Lane...ummm, there is Matt's mom, she is lying on the floor, we don't know what happened..her face is cold....Please hurry!" Victoria cried out to the operator.  
  
"Calm down. Is there a pulse?"  
  
Matt yelled up, near sobbing, "She doesn't have a pulse, and she is not breathing."  
  
"No," Victoria replied.  
  
"Is she breathing?"  
  
"No."  
  
"We will be there as soon as possible."  
  
Victoria heard a faint click on the other line, and she set the phone down on the counter. She herself was crying, and Matt was holding his mom's hand, sobbing.  
  
"Mom...please, don't leave me. You are all I have, please."  
  
As Victoria rushed down to comfort him, she heard the faint sound of sirens in the background. In the distance, she saw something that was obviously thrown down on the floor.  
  
She reached for it, and picked it up.  
  
It was an empty pill bottle. 


	10. Lost Little Boy, Part 2

Gordo ran through the bright hospital corridor, until he saw Matt sitting in the chair, and a teenage girl standing not so far away from him. The teenage girl rushed up to him immediately.  
  
"Are you Gordo?" she asked.  
  
"Are you Victoria?" he responded, and she nodded her head slowly.  
  
"I found your number on the fridge, and I was panicked, and I thought that you were a family friend, so I called you, and someone named Miranda-" she quickly tried to explain, but Gordo interrupted her.  
  
"How is Mrs. Mcguire doing?"  
  
"I don't know. I went to Matt's house after school today, and I asked if I could meet his mom, and we went to go find her, and she was passed on the floor of the bathroom. She was not breathing then, and she did not have a pulse. Matt rode in the ambulence, and I drove Matt's car behind them."  
  
Gordo glanced over to Matt, who was slumped over in a chair, with his head in his hands.  
  
"How is he doing?" he asked, in a careful whisper.  
  
"He won't talk to me, at all, since we got here."  
  
Just then, a raven-haired girl ran up.   
  
"What happened?"  
  
Gordo gave her the quick rundown of events.  
  
"Are you Matt's girlfriend?" she asked, pointing to Victoria.  
  
"Yeah. Are you Miranda? Nice to meet you," she replied, sticking her hand out for Miranda to shake.  
  
"Are you feeling okay?" Gordo asked Miranda.  
  
"I get queasy every time I see pickles, but other than that, I feel fine," she said sarcastically.  
  
Victoria was extremely confused for a second; she thought that Miranda had the flu; but once she saw the way Miranda rested her hand on her stomach, she knew. She concluded that Miranda and Gordo were the two friends of Lizzie that Matt had told her about.  
  
"I really hope that she is alright. Losing your entire family in one year would be tough on anyone," Victoria spoke up.  
  
"So Mr. Mcguire is really gone?"  
  
"That is what Matt told me."  
  
The trio sat in silence as they waited. Victoria walked over to Matt, and placed her hand on Matt's shoulder.  
  
"Matt, are you feeling okay? Do you want anything from the cafeteria, or anything?"  
  
Matt just shrugger his shoulders, not even looking up at Victoria.  
  
Victoria looked back at Miranda and Gordo who were obviously uncomfortable in the hospital. The last time they were in this hospital, they lost their best friend.  
  
Suddenly, the doctor opened the door, and immediately, Matt stood up. Victoria, Gordo, and Miranda all stood up, and followed behind. Victoria noticed that the doctor was not making eye contact with any of them.  
  
"I'm sorry. There was nothing we could do."  
  
Victoria did not know what to say, and she stood with her mouth agape. She watched as Matt started to cry, silently in the middle of the hospital.  
  
"Matt...I, ummm," she tried to say, as tears escaped her own eyes.  
  
"They were supposed to save her...my mom is dead. I have no one alive who wants to live with me," Matt sobbed.  
  
Victoria tried to hug Matt, but he pushed her away.  
  
"Get away from me. There is no way that you would possibly know how I feel," he shouted angrily. "Give me me keys."  
  
Victoria, still shaking, handed him over the keys.  
  
"Matt, please. Can we just talk?"  
  
Halfway down the hall, Matt looked back with angry eyes.  
  
"Talk about what?" he said, and he stormed down the hall.  
  
Victoria turned to Miranda and Gordo.  
  
"Can I have a ride to his house? I want to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," Victoria asked. Gordo volunteerd, and they rushed to follow Matt in his car.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------How could she die? Why couldn't they save her?  
  
I tore down the streets of Hillridge in my car, until I reached my house.  
  
I opened the door to my house, throwing my keys down on the counter. I knew exactly what I was looking for.  
  
Something that would drown out my sorrows.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Lauren, how could this happen?"  
  
I was sobbing, running through my house of a heaven, looking for my guardian angel.  
  
I finally found her, picking up some books, at her mail pickup.  
  
"LAUREN! What happened?"  
  
"I don't know. Stuff like this happens sometimes. No one can prevent it, not even an angel."  
  
I grabbed her shoulders, and shook her.  
  
"Where is my mom now?"  
  
Lauren shook her head, and sighed.  
  
"I don't know. Please let go of me."  
  
I released my grip of her shoulders, and wiped the tears from underneath my eyes.  
  
"Why would my mom do something like that?"  
  
Just then, I heard a familiar voice.  
  
"LIZZIE! My baby!"  
  
I whirled around to find my mom running towards me. She quickly wrapped me up in a hug, but before I knew, she disappeared.  
  
I turned around to face Lauren.  
  
"Where did she go?"  
  
Lauren shook her head, tears welling up in her own eyes.  
  
"I did not think it was true."  
  
"What was true?"  
  
A single tear ran down Lauren's cheek.  
  
"Your mom...committed suicide, and left your brother all alone to fend for himself. She died for a very selfish reason. Lizzie, your mom is not coming to heaven right away," Lauren said in a comforting tone, almost motherlike.  
  
"My mother is going to..." I started.  
  
"No, your mother is going to Purgatory," she immediately interrupted me.  
  
"What's Purgatory?"  
  
"Until your mother can prove that she is true of heart, she has to stay there. She will join you sometime or later."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Victoria knocked on the door of the Mcguire house again. Matt was not answering, and it was very cold outside. She shivered, and wrapped her coat around her tighter.  
  
The door swung open, and Matt appeared, disheveled, and his eyes bloodshot, as he had been crying.  
  
"What do you want?" he slurred, and as he talked, Victoria could smell that his breath reeked of alcohol.  
  
"I wanted to make sure that you were okay, but you obviously are not."  
  
"Go away," he exclaimed, and Victoria stepped back, hoping the alcohol would not influence him to make a bad decision.  
  
"Matt, I don't know how it feels, but I want to help you get through this."  
  
"That's right, you don't know how it feels," he slurred again, lurching towards her.  
  
"What have you done with the Matt that I knew?" she asked the drunk boy standing in front of her.  
  
"I don't know, maybe you should try the yellow pages or something," he said, laughing at his own joke. "But I would would be willing to get to know you better."  
  
He wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her on the lips. She immediatley pushed him off.  
  
"Get off of me!" she yelled.  
  
"What's the matter baby?" he sneered. "I want you," he whispered in her ear.  
  
"First of all, you're drunk. Second of all, your mother just died, and third, you are DRUNK," she yelled.  
  
"Don't talk so loud," he said, clutching his head. "I don't feel so hot."  
  
Matt puked all over Victoria, and she stepped back disgusted.  
  
"Matt, go get by the toilet, and then go to bed. I don't want you to do anything more stupid. I am going to wait here tonight, to make sure you are alright, but after that I never want to see you again," Victoria said, crying.  
  
But before, Matt could do anything else, he started to yell at her.  
  
"Victoria, I love you."  
  
"SHHHH, be quiet, Matt."  
  
But he persisted.  
  
"I have only known you for a couple of days, but I love you so much already."  
  
"Matt, go to bed or something."  
  
"You don't love me the way that I love you," he said, and with that he passed out on his front porch.  
  
Victoria sighed, and dragged him into his living room, taking his shoes off, and propping him up on the couch. She grabbed the phone to tell her mother what had happened, and sat down on the chair next to him.  
  
This was going to be a long night.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I woke up, and the bright lights of morning shined into my eyes.  
  
Light. Could someone turn that down?  
  
I look around. Victoria already went ahead to school, since she never wants to see me again.  
  
Crap.  
  
Just then, I realize what I had said to her. There is no way that I will be able to get her back now.  
  
Today is Tuesday, but there is nothing that can get me to school. It will just be the same as when Lizzie died, hushed whispers in the hallway.  
  
I will just stay here until someone comes to find me. Which won't be Dad, the only member of my immediate family left, because wait, he doesn't care.  
  
The doorbell rings, and my head starts pounding. I hate hangovers with a passion. I open the door, and it is my grandparents.  
  
They both hug me like I am some delicate child, but after a couple of minutes, I ask to be excused to my room. They look at each other worridely, and not knowing what to do, they go ahead and excuse me, and go back to making funeral arrangements.  
  
On the way up the doors, I see my mom's room, and I curiously open the door. There is a eerie presence, knowing that my mother died in this room, but I need a clue as to why she did this.  
  
I sift through papers, and find what I was looking for.  
  
Divorce papers from dear old dad.  
  
I rush back downstairs, to find my grandparents still sitting there, in shock that their daughter is dead.  
  
"Are you going to call Dad?" I asked.  
  
My grandparents look at each other nervously.  
  
"We just assumed that...well...that you did not want any contact with him."  
  
"I justed wanted to know."  
  
I rushed back upstairs, and shoved the papers into my backpack for another time. I would go talk to him when the time came, before the funeral.  
  
He should come see his mistake.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I eventually went back to school, but could not concentrate. After third hour, I decided that I could not take it anymore, and bolted towards the door. I ran to my car, and drove to the nearest gas station, and found all of the pothead losers hanging out.  
  
"Matt!" one of them said, greeting me. "Decided to join us again?"  
  
They all looked up at me. Every single one of them looked up at me, of course they all knew my name. I used to be one of them.  
  
I sat down next to a girl with black lipstick, and dreadlocks.  
  
"Hey, Matt. How was life on the dark side?" she asked, and I looked up to see her face. It Melina, who I used to date on and off.  
  
"Sucks."  
  
They all nodded, very mellow. Especially Lanny, who used to be my best friend.  
  
"We thought we had lost you, Mcguire. When you actually straightened yourself up was the warning sign, and then you started dating cheerleaders."  
  
"Well, I'm back now."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Victoria nervously sat at the lunch table with her cheerleader friends. She watched as Matt Mcguire made a run for the door, skipping school.  
  
"What's up with you and Mcguire?" one of the girls, Mindy, asked.  
  
"Nothing, not anymore."  
  
"Right. Is that why you have been watching him all day?"  
  
"We had something, and now its over. He was a jerk, and I don't really want to talk about him and I anymore."  
  
"Okay. He and I dated about two months ago, but we broke up in two weeks. I think he has dated about every cheerleader."  
  
"So he is a player?"  
  
"No...Matt? He is a real gentleman. But you know, it's kind of weird, because in middle school, he was the biggest pothead in the school," Mindy said, leaning into Victoria.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yeah, I know. Kind of hard to believe, once you compared him to his sister."  
  
"Was she popular?"  
  
"Every guy in school wanted her. She was pretty, smart, and sweet."  
  
"What about Matt?"  
  
"He was actually arrested at the end of our eight grade year, and his parents sent him to rehab. He cam back to ninth grade a whole new guy. Clean-cut, soccer star, and he had dropped all of his loser friends. But, when his sister died, he started to revert, until you came along."  
  
"Me?" Victoria asked, pointing to herself.  
  
"I have never seen him as happy as I did as when he was with you."  
  
"Well, he was a jerk on Monday night. After his mom died, he shut me off, went home, and got so drunk."  
  
Mindy was captivated.  
  
"He threw up all over me, and said some pretty weird things. I never want to see him again. And after what you told me, I am pretty sure that he just skipped school to go get high."  
  
"Yeah I know. I wish there was someway we could help him. He needs help, really bad."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I watched as my loser brother got high on the TV. And we were so close to keeping him away from that stuff.  
  
I still remember that day that he was arrested. It was the same day that my parents had their first huge fight.  
  
FLASHBACK  
  
RING RING  
  
As the phone rang, I rushed to get it. I was eagerly expecting a call from Miranda, who was going to tell me how her date with Danny went.  
  
But, as I answered, another voice answered back, that I recognized as my brother's.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Matt? What do you want?"  
  
"Where are mod and dam... I mean, mom and dad," he said, giggling. It was obvious that he was stoned out of his mind.  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
There was a slight pause at the other end.  
  
"policestation," he mumbled. "I was arrested for minor in posession. They found it on me."  
  
I dropped the phone. I knew that my brother had some problems, but I had no idea about this.  
  
"MOM! DAD!" I yelled.  
  
They both rushed to my side, and I picked the phone off the floor.  
  
"It's Matt. He was arrested for having pot."  
  
My mom started to sob, and my dad started to yell at my brother over the phone.  
  
He hung up angrily, and announced that my "loser" brother (his words), would be spending the night in jail, and then going straight to rehab. 


	11. With a Little Help From my Friends

I pulled up in front of the strange house that I found for my father's address. My head hurt like none other, and all I wanted to do was go get stoned. But, my mom's funeral was tomorrow, and I had something I needed to take care of.  
  
I walked up to the door, and nervously knocked the door. A woman opened the door, and narrowed her eyes to slits.  
  
"I'm not interested in buying anything," she said, closing the door. I stuck my hand in the doorway, catching it before it could close.  
  
"If you don't mind, I would like to talk to Sam Mcguire."  
  
The woman looked at me, suspiciously, but called for my dad. He ran up to the door, but when he saw me he stopped.  
  
"Matt..."  
  
"So this is the woman you left Mom to be with. When she needed you the most," I said, angrily.  
  
"Listen, I would prefer that you would leave. Just tell your mom to sign the papers, and get out of my life," he replied, slamming the door shut.  
  
"THERE WILL BE NO SIGNATURES, OR DIVORCE!" I yelled as the door shut.  
  
He immediately opened the door back up.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Your 'papers' caused Mom to overdose, and committ suicide. Thanks a lot."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"Of course you don't. I came by to ask you to come to her funeral tomorrow. It's the least you could do."  
  
I slammed the door shut on him this time, and calmly walked back to my car. I could not wait to meet the gang, and get stoned out of my mind.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Victoria Smith."  
  
I tugged at my skirt, and walked into the counselour's office.  
  
"Hi."  
  
We shook hands, and he offered me a seat.  
  
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked calmly.  
  
"It's about a friend I have. He goes to this school, and he really needs help. He has relapsed into pot, and I don't know what to do."  
  
"I see."  
  
"His sister died in a hit-and-run accident, his dad left them, and his mom just committed suicide."  
  
"Is this friend...Matt Mcguire?"  
  
"Yes," I replied reluctantly.  
  
"Just try to be the best friend that you can be, and try to urge him to get help. If he doesn't want to do this on his own, I will help him myself. Matt is very troubled right now, and we can make it our mission to help him."  
  
I smiled, and stood up.  
  
"I have to go now. I'm going to go his mom's funeral."  
  
"It was nice to meet you, Victoria."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Matt looked around at the guests at his mom's funeral. His dad actually managed to show up, bringing his new girlfriend with him. The nerve.  
  
He looked around some more. He saw Victoria, with her mom and dad. She timidly waved hello, but Matt turned his head away.  
  
Miranda and Gordo also walked in, with their families. Miranda was obviously ashamed of her bulging stomach, as she tried to hide her stomach with her arms.  
  
The funeral began, but to Matt, it was a blur of speeches and tears. He was too high to even make a distinction of what was happening.  
  
It seemed that the funeral ended in no time, and before Matt knew it, everyone was standing up around him, going to the graveyard. Matt told his grandparents that he could not see his mom being buried, so he left, and locked himself in his car.  
  
Matt wanted to smoke some more, but as he looked out his window, he saw a familiar figure running towards his car.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Great. It's Victoria. Like I really wanted to talk to her.  
  
I did not open the window or door, instead I just sat there. But she also stood there, until I caved in.  
  
"Matt, we need to talk."  
  
I started to laugh. What could we possibly need to talk about?  
  
"You need help, Matt. You are destroying yourself, and your future."  
  
I raised my eyebrows in her direction.  
  
"Does it look like I care?"  
  
"I didn't think that you would, but please, go talk to the guidance counselor. I don't like seeing you like this."  
  
I could not listen to her any longer. I had to meet Melina, Lanny, and the others in five minutes. So I rolled the window back up, and sped away, leaving her in the dust.  
  
I could have been mistaken, but as I looked back, I thought I saw her crying.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I walked into the school just briefly, but the second that I walked in, an office aide handed me a pass to go to the counselor's office.  
  
Great.  
  
I decided to go ahead and go. I might as well suffer through another lecture about "wasted potential." Hey, it's better than going to class.  
  
I walked into his office, and he immediately stood up.  
  
"Matt. We need to talk."  
  
I looked around, and saw Victoria sitting there. I glared at her, and she tried to manage a weak smile.  
  
"There is nothing wrong," I replied angrily.  
  
"Matt, I know this has been a tough time on you. But please, we are here to help."  
  
I hesitantly sat on his couch.  
  
"Now, normally what I should have done, was report you to the proper authorities."  
  
"Then why didn't you?" I asked sarcastically.  
  
"I know that it obviously did not help the last time, and I guess I could say that you don't really need it right now."  
  
I rolled my eyes.  
  
"I really don't need this right now."  
  
Suddenly, Victoria stood up, extremely angry.  
  
"Then what do you want to do, Mcguire? Go get high?" she exclaimed, but sat back down, embarassed that she let her emotions take over. "I'm sorry."  
  
"No, it's okay, Victoria," the counselor said, and then turned his attention to me. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"  
  
I tried to act nonchalant.  
  
"Doing what?"  
  
"You know what, Matt."  
  
I looked at the two concerned people in the room, and figured I might as well tell the truth.  
  
"I don't know. It's just everything that has been going on lately. I guess my mom's death just sent me over the edge again, and reality is hard to deal with."  
  
"So, you think that smoking pot is the only way to escape reality?"  
  
"I guess. Nothing else really seems to help."  
  
"Have you tried anything else? Is there something you like to do?"  
  
"I like soccer."  
  
"Is there anything else?"  
  
I shook my head no, but Victoria spoke up.  
  
"He is an awesome musician."  
  
The guidance counselor smiled.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"I'm not that good."  
  
"No, he is just being modest," Victoria said.  
  
"That's good, Matt. Maybe songwriting could help? Have you ever performed?"  
  
"I never have performed anywhere in public. I never really told anyone about it, either, besides Victoria."  
  
The counselor thought for a second, and came up with a conclusion.  
  
"My sister owns the Digital Bean, and she wants some type of live performance every Friday night. Would that sound good to you?"  
  
I thought about it for a second, and I thought that it might be fun.  
  
"Count me in."  
  
"Good, Matt. Now, I have another meeting with a student, but we can talk the same time on Thursday. How about it?"  
  
"I think I would like that."  
  
He shook my hand, and I departed. But, Victoria tried to get out as quickly as she could.  
  
"Victoria, wait," I yelled out to her, but she walked on.  
  
"Victoria....wait."  
  
The second time she turned around, and gave me her attention.  
  
"What do you want?" she said icily.  
  
"Thanks. I mean it."  
  
She looked at me for a second, and her icy cold glance warmed a little.  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
I wanted to talk to her for a second, but she walked on to her car. Obviously this was going to take a lot more than just a thank you.  
  
I got into my car, and put my key into the ignition. I watched Victoria as she drove off, and I could not help but think how much I wanted her back.  
  
"I completely ruined it with her. I am such an idiot," I said aloud.  
  
"You got that right," a voice said from behind. I turned around to look, and I could not help but gasp in amazement. 


	12. Chapter 12

I watched as my brother skipped school.  
  
I watched as he drunkedly threw up all over his soul mate.  
  
And I watched him relapse back into pot.  
  
But I could not watch anymore. I had to take action.  
  
After all...  
  
I am an angel.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I looked around, but all that I could see was a flash of light. I covered my eyes quickly, and as the light went down, I gasped in amazement.  
  
It was Lizzie, and she was sitting there calmly, just like she was alive.  
  
"What are you doing here?" I asked frantically. With all that had been going on lately, it was very possible that I was going out of my mind.  
  
"I want to talk to you," she calmly answered.  
  
My pressed my hand against my forehead. Maybe I was feverish.  
  
"You're not seeing thing Matt. I really am here."  
  
"But, you're.."  
  
"Dead? I know," she said, laughing.  
  
I reached out to try to touch her, but my hand went right through to the seat.  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
"Is that how you are going to greet me? How about a 'hey, how's it going, big sis?'"  
  
I looked at Lizzie horrified.  
  
"No, I am not seeing a vision of my dead sister," I told myself.  
  
"Yeah you are," she said, reading my mind.  
  
"No, I am not. You are not here, because I...crazy."  
  
"You are not a schizophrenic, if that's what you mean. And, I am really here."  
  
"You came back from the dead?"  
  
"Now you are sounding crazy. No, I just came back for a brief second to talk to you."  
  
I took a deep breath, and tried to comprehend what was sitting in my car.  
  
"What do you want to talk about?"  
  
Lizzie's calm, serene look departed as she smacked me across the forehead. Actually, her hand sort of passed through my forehead, but still.  
  
"What was that for?"  
  
"You are being a complete idiot."  
  
"What?" I asked, still confused.  
  
"Why are you getting high?"  
  
"I quit, and got help."  
  
"Because someone forced you to. Victoria, who broke up with you because you are an IDIOT."  
  
"I tried to apologize, but she won't listen to me."  
  
"That's because you almost ruined it with her. I would never get back together with you if you did to me, if I were her, and you were you, and you did to me what you did to her. I wouuld do what she did to you, too."  
  
"Wait...I'm confused."  
  
"You should be. You're probably stoned or something."  
  
"I told you, I quit."  
  
"But we all know that once things get a little tough again, you will start again."  
  
"That's not true. I will never do it again."  
  
"That's what you said after you got out of rehab."  
  
We were both silent for a moment.  
  
"Matt...can I ask you one question?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Why did you start smoking again?"  
  
I paused, and tried to absorb her question.  
  
"Answer me, Matt."  
  
I sighed, and tried to answer her the best that I could.  
  
"Do you remember that day...the day that you died?"  
  
"Why wouldn't I?"  
  
"Do you remember our fight?"  
  
Lizzie tried to remember, but could not.  
  
"Not really."  
  
"Don't you remember when Mom and Dad were fighting, and you started to cry upstairs in our bathroom, and I told you to get over it."  
  
"Oh, that," she said quietly. "I didn't even really think about that."  
  
"Well, I have. I always will remember my last words to you. I said that it was your fault that Mom and Dad were fighting."  
  
"Why did you even say that?"  
  
"I can't remember, but I cannot forget those words.  
  
"Matt," she said, stroking my face with her hand. "I didn't even remember what I said. We became such good friends after you straightened yourself out, that I could put aside all of the stupid things that you said. Your comment was just a blip on the radar."  
  
I looked down into my lap.  
  
"Have you told anyone about this...Someone that is alive?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, if it matters at all, I forgive you, even though I did not even remember you saying that."  
  
"Thanks, if it even matters now that I have royally screwed everything up. Every time that I was getting high, or destroying something, I was just trying to forget that I said that. I even almost convinced myself, and I hadn't really though about it until you asked me why I was getting high."  
  
Lizzie smiled.  
  
"Did Victoria make you forget?"  
  
"Always."  
  
"Gordo always made me forget about what was happening at home," she said wistfully.  
  
"But, now there is no chance with me and her at all."  
  
Lizzie snapped out of her trance.  
  
"Well, there is A LOT that you don't know, but I can't tell you. But I can tell you that you and Victoria will probably work out."  
  
"But how?"  
  
"Where there is a will, there is a way, and I think I might have your will. Invite Victoria to your show at the Digital Bean."  
  
"She won't come."  
  
"Write her a poem, and put it in her locker on a fancy invitation. Better yet, put a single rose with it, and maybe she will think it is from a secret admirer."  
  
"What about my show then?"  
  
"Write some heartfelt speech, or dedicate a song to her or something. I will make sure that she gets there. Make sure to buy a lot of flowers, and maybe some jewelry. She will need a lot of convincing, but we want her to know that she won't make a mistake with you."  
  
"Lizzie?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Will I be okay?"  
  
"I think you will make it alright."  
  
I tried to hug her, but with a flash of light, she was gone.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I landed back in my bed, and I felt as if I had just been jolted through another dimension.  
  
"What was that?" I asked aloud, to no one in particular.  
  
Suddenly, I heard applause.  
  
"Congratulations, Lizzie! You did it!" Lauren exclaimed, and I was very confused.  
  
"What did I do?"  
  
"You set Matt back on the right track, and you earned your halo."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Your halo. All of us angels get one, but you probably set the record on the shortest amount of time it took."  
  
"Where is your halo?"  
  
Lauren pulled up her sleeve, and I saw a thin gold bracelet on her arm.  
  
"Right here. They are actually different for everyone, but here is yours," she said, sifting through my mail that she had gotten for me. She pulled out a long, thin jewelry box. I opened it up, and inside there was a necklace. It looked almost exactly like the heart necklace I wore when I was alive all the time, except this one was gold, and had a small ring charm by the heart.  
  
"Wow. This is all unreal."  
  
"I know. That is what it seemed like when I earned my halo."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Victoria opened her locker, and a small note and a rose fell out. She picked her things up off of the floor, and opened the note carefully.  
  
Whoever had put it in there had obviously spent a lot of time on it, because it was very heartfelt and beautiful.  
  
Victoria's best friend Mindy (they had become very good friends quickly) walked up, and asked her what she was looking at.  
  
"Somebody put this in my locker," Victoria said, as she handed it to Mindy to read.  
  
Mindy's eyes widened as she read the invitation.  
  
"You have a secret admirer, Victoria," she said excitedly. "He wants to meet you at the Digital Bean this Friday!"  
  
Victoria beamed, but the invitation almost bugged her.  
  
"Who do you think it's from?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know. That one new guy from New York has been eyeing you, you know. He asked me the other day if you were dating anyone."  
  
Victoria raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Plus, he plays the guitar. That's always a plus in my book."  
  
Her statement caused Victoria to start thinking about Matt again, just when she had almost gotten over him.  
  
"What's wrong, Victoria?"  
  
"Nothing. I just have to get to class, that's all."  
  
Victoria rushed to her next class, trying to forget about Matt, and think about her secret admirer. All of her thinking left her a little absentminded, and she collided straight on with someone, dropping all of her books.  
  
She bent down to pick them up, and whoever she ran into bent down to help also. She then first looked into his face, seeing Matt. He had gone back to his old self, his clean cut, all-American soccer player persona. He had even started to hang out with his soccer friends again, and was on the track team.  
  
"Hi," he said smiling.  
  
"Hi," she said shortly, grabbing her book out of his hand, and rushing off to her next class, leaving Matt in the hallway shocked. 


	13. Angel

"Do you think I look okay?"  
  
Mindy frowned.  
  
"How many times have I told you that you look great?" she said, using exagerated hand movements.  
  
I smiled as I looked in the mirror. I wanted to look good for my secret admirer, but everytime I thought about it I felt a pang of guilt inside, that I would quickly shake off everytime that I thought about it.  
  
"Seriously?" I asked again.  
  
"I'm your best friend, Victoria. Why would I lie to you?"  
  
"I don't know," I replied, smoothing my skirt out.  
  
"I heard that there is going to be a live performance there tonight."  
  
My heart started to race, and my eyes widened.  
  
"There is no way that I am going then," I said.  
  
"Why not? You have to go, or your secret admirer will be very disappointed," she said, play scolding me.  
  
"No! Matt is performing. I can't go, galavanting around with some stranger. He'll see me and then he will go smoke or something."  
  
Mindy raised her eyebrows.  
  
"I didn't know that he played anything."  
  
"He didn't really tell anyone."  
  
"Well, you need to go tonight. You think too much, and you just need to have fun for once. Don't think about what Matt thinks."  
  
I thought for a second, and still had a guilty feeling in my stomach.  
  
"But..."  
  
"But, no, Victoria. Go tonight, and I will be there with you," she said, putting the rose behind my ear.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I scanned the room once again.  
  
No Victoria.  
  
I played a few popular covers, thinking that I might as well wait until she got there.  
  
I launched into my rendition of No Such Thing, by John Mayer, still waiting. Looking into the crowd, I saw some familiar faces from school, but still, no Victoria.  
  
My boss walked up, and handed me a cola as I played the ending chords.  
  
"Great job. The crowd loves you," she said, patting me on the back.  
  
"Thanks," I said, catching my breath.  
  
I took a long drink from my cup, and looked at the door.  
  
In walked Victoria and Mindy; Victoria with a skirt and a red shirt, with a red rose tucked behind her ear.  
  
I beamed, and went into my last song before my speech, In my Life. I hoped that Victoria would remember it.  
  
"There are places I remember. All my life..." I sang, watching her every move. She was looking for her "secret admirer", and she tried not to look at me.  
  
All part of the plan.  
  
"In my life, I love you more," I finshed, drawing applause from the crowd.  
  
Victoria looked towards the stage, making brief eye contact with me, but quickly breaking it away. I cleared my throat, and thought to myself,  
  
Here it goes.  
  
"Hey, ya'll. Hope you are enjoying yourself tonight," I said, drawing hoots and hollars from the audience, including my good soccer friend Oscar.  
  
"I just want to say something really quick. Ummm, I just want to say that I really messed up recently, pushing everyone that I loved away from me. I didn't realize what I did, until someone told me. I then I knew my mistake. So that is why I would like to dedicate this next song to the girl I love, Victoria Smith."  
  
I watched as the entire crowd turned to look at Victoria, who had turned almost as red as her shirt. She turned to leave, but Mindy stood in front of her, blocking her from the exit.  
  
"You sounded so good on the phone. All moved up and all moved on  
  
Me and gravity, we never could agree. But I can almost see the sky  
  
when I need to, I close my eyes. You're the only thing that's worth holding on to."  
  
"Angel you sing about beautiful things, and all I want to do is believe. But I traded my dreams for this mess or memories, and they just stopped working for me."  
  
"Now I'm not a monster I believe like a liar would believe. Helps me navigate the wooden smiles, the raging seas. And all my heros pull their heads. Like a fighter would, I guess. No one ever really likes getting older."  
  
I stopped singing, and took a long drink of my coke. I cleared my throat again, and waited for the applause to subside.  
  
"So, please. I know that I am not good enough for you, you are an angel. But please, let me have one more chance, and I will make it worth your while."  
  
I found Victoria in the crowd again, and motioned to Mindy to make her come up to the stage. As I did this, Oscar started a chant in the audience.  
  
"TAKE HIM BACK! TAKE HIM BACK!" he yelled, and soon the rest chimed in.   
  
Victoria walked up to the stage, and nervously climbed up.  
  
"Hi," she said, and an eerie silence took over the audience. I pulled the bouquet of roses that I had gotten her from inside my guitar case.  
  
"These are for you so your rose won't become lonely," I replied, handing them to her.  
  
"Thanks. It was you all along? The secret admirer?"  
  
I smiled coyly.  
  
"You caught me."  
  
"It was really beautiful," she said, dabbing her eyes.  
  
"You're beautiful."  
  
I pulled out the necklace that I had bought for her out of my pocket. It was a silver locket, with our pictures inside.  
  
"Excuse me for being a little cheesy, but I am a sensitive guy. I guess it's all of those romantic comedies that I watch."  
  
She quieted me by putting her finger on my lips, and then wrapped her arms around my waist. Victoria then kissed me on the lips, and the place went up in a huge cheer.  
  
"I am so sorry for everything, Victoria," I managed to say between her kisses.  
  
"Shhh. It doesn't matter anymore."  
  
We turned around, and the crowd was still in applause.  
  
"Looks like we have an audience," I joked.  
  
"C'mon, let's get out of here," she said, jabbing me in the stomach playfully.  
  
I smiled, and picked up my microphone again.  
  
"Have a great night!" I yelled quickly, and then taking Victoria's hand, and my guitar case, we both rushed out as quickly as possible.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Songs:  
  
In my Life, by the Beatles  
  
Angel, by Matt Nathanson 


	14. Chapter 14

Gordo  
  
I jabbed my hamburger with my fork, but my fork did not even penetrate the meat. From now on, I am bringing my lunch.  
  
Sitting at my table, Larry and Ethan were excitedly discussing...I don't know really know, it all sounded like gibberish to me. Kate was filing her nails in her usual fashion, acting bored by her surroundings, and Veruca Scott was hanging on Larry's every word.  
  
And I sat there wondering. How did I end up with this weird group of ecletic people?  
  
Then I remembered. Every one of these people was directly affected by the death of Lizzie, and they subconsciously bonded together after Lizzie's death. And I, after my suicide attempt, found that I needed some people to hang around.  
  
Only one person was missing from this group.  
  
Miranda.  
  
Not that she really was welcomed, especially by which Kate was concerned. Even I had not really talked to her that much since Mrs. Mcguire's funeral, and even then the conversation was awkward.  
  
The truth was that nobody knew what to say to her, so we all just avoided the situation. What do you say to somebody who used to be your friend, but made the biggest mistake of her life, and was now paying for it? We didn't know, and the whole school did not know what to say to Miranda, with her bulging eight months pregnant belly that she usually hid with a large sweatshirt.  
  
I looked over to the unofficial sophomore section, and saw Victoria and Matt, both restored to their throne at the soccer player/cheerleader table. They were the couple that everyone envied, not just because they were popular, but because they were both great people that found each other. It was hard to believe that a month ago, Matt hardly ever came to school, and even when he did, he was obviously stoned.  
  
I found myself zoning out in the middle of lunch, thinking about everything that had happened. Never in a million years did I think that everything would change so drastically for the worse. I wanted this to be the theme of the documentary essay I planned to submit to NYU in my college application. I already had footage from Matt's concert, and interviews with Dr. Roberts, Ethan, Kate, Larry, and Veruca. I planned to use this in my documentary about change under the worse conditions.  
  
There was one person that I still wanted to talk to, though. And I saw that person roaming the halls, because she had went out for lunch by herself, and too shamed of herself to join any tables.  
  
I picked up my backpack quickly, said goodbye to the rest of my table, and I threw away my mostly uneaten lunch. I rushed over to Miranda, who was leaning against her locker, her face weary and worn.  
  
She had changed also over the course of time, she had grown up quite a bit in this short time, and you could see it on her face.  
  
"Hey, Miranda," I called out to her, and she turned around, not expecting someone to actually greet her (and not in a jeering way). "Ummm...I'm making a documentary, and I wanted to interview you."  
  
Her face fell as she realized that this was only really a business conversation.  
  
"And I wanted to talk, you know, as friends."  
  
With my statement, her face brightened up again.  
  
"So, how have you been doing?" I casually asked.  
  
She patted her stomach, and grimaced.  
  
"As good as any other pregnant eighteen year-old can be."  
  
Quickly changing the subject, she asked me what my documentary was about. When I said that it was about Lizzie, her demeanor changed drastically.  
  
"If it's okay with you, I would rather not be a part of your movie. I don't really take pleasure in talking about how my best friend's death royally screwed me up."  
  
She started to walk away, but I instinctively grabbed her arm.  
  
"Owww! What do you think you're doing, Gordo?"  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
She ignored my apology, and continued to walk away.  
  
"If you want to talk about it, we can," I yelled, and she turned around.  
  
"What is there to talk about?" she asked coldly.  
  
"I don't know. Anything?"  
  
She looked at her watch.  
  
"I'll give you until the end of lunch."  
  
We sat in silence for a second.  
  
"So, what have you been doing?" I asked, trying to break the silence.  
  
"Getting ready, for...you know, my delivery, and graduation."  
  
"What about prom?"  
  
"There is no way I am going to prom. I'm sure no one wants to see my fat butt in a dress."  
  
"So...what are you going to do after graduation?"  
  
"Have a baby, I guess," she answered sarcastically.  
  
"No, really."  
  
"Well, seeing as that there will be no college for me, because of the baby and the fact that I not been really focusing on school, I'm going to live with my parents, until..." she trailed off. "I don't really know. What about you?"  
  
"Hopefully I will be accepted into NYU, my dream school," I answered.  
  
Miranda sighed.  
  
"Yeah, I wish life were that simple."  
  
Miranda smiled.  
  
"I just had a crazy idea."  
  
"What?"  
  
"How about you and I go to the prom together? Just as friends."  
  
"I thought you didn't want to go to prom."  
  
"I don't want to miss out on the senior prom, and besides, it might be fun. How about it?"  
  
I hesitated in my answer, and Miranda noticed.  
  
"But I'm not Lizzie. And we are not going to be dating or anything. I just want someone to go to the prom with, if I go."  
  
"I know, but..."  
  
There was just something about going to the prom with Miranda that made my insides scream NO! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GO WITH HER BEST FRIEND! I knew that if Lizzie were alive, I would probably have asked her, but...  
  
"You really did love Lizzie, didn't you?" Miranda asked.  
  
"Yeah, I did."  
  
"I know that, and I am not asking you to replace her or anything."  
  
I wasn't sure about it, but after weighing the options of Alone vs. Miranda, I decided Miranda.  
  
"Okay, but just as friends."  
  
"And, we can dance with anyone we want to at the dance. With you, I mean. No one will want to dance with me."  
  
The end of the lunch bell rang, and Miranda left, leaving me at that. I could not help but to feel a bit guilty, like I was betraying Lizzie.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
MATT  
  
I drove up to Victoria's house, like I did everday to pick her up. Ever since we had gotten back together, we were almost inseperable. We had even started to plan our summer together.  
  
But this day, something was very different. Victoria saw me in her car, and walked out slowly. Her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had been crying all day. She was still wearing her glasses, her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and instead of her usual polished look, she was wearing a pair of sweats.  
  
She climbed into the car, and when I said hello to her, she started to cry again. Something was wrong.  
  
"What's the matter?" I asked, putting my arm around her shoulders.  
  
She launched into an explanation of what had happened, but all I could make out through her tears were Donovan, infection, and coma.  
  
"What?"  
  
She sniffed, and pulled a tissue out of her pocket, dabbing at her eyes.  
  
"It's Donovan. He has an infection, and he was getting better, but he went into a coma last night, and they don't know...if he will ever wake up," she said, sobbing.  
  
I was shocked, and I did not know what to say. Donovan and I had become pretty good friends, even though his parents had hired a tutor for him (he missed too much school), and he was usually not at school. He was interested in a lot of the same things that I was, and since I had been at their house so much with Victoria, I found out that he was a pretty cool guy.  
  
"Oh, Victoria, I am so sorry. Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" I asked her gently.  
  
"No, I just want to go to school. I was there all last night, and even though my parents said that I shouldn't go to school today, I think I need to...you know, to get my mind off of things."  
  
But, it was obvious that there was nothing to distract her. She was silently crying the entire way to school, and when Mindy asked her what was wrong, she burst into sobs again. It was hard for her, since she and her brother were so close.  
  
Finally, I went in to talk to the counselor. The counselor and I had been talking a lot lately, and he had become a big help.  
  
"I have a question."  
  
"Okay, Matt."  
  
"It's about Victoria. Her brother, Donovan has cancer, and he went into a coma last night. She is trying to pretend everything is okay, and she is even at school today. But if you ask her about it, she starts to sob," I said in one breath.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I don't know what to do."  
  
"Well," he started. "Do you need a pass to leave?"  
  
"What?" I asked, not knowing what he was doing.  
  
"I'm going to let you take Victoria to the hospital," he answered, signing two pink passes, and handing one to the office aide. "Now, stand by the door, and wait for her to come."  
  
I walked out to the front door. I just wanted to talk, but this was an added bonus. Victoria walked up slowly, looking perplexed.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked me.  
  
"Do you want to talk?"  
  
"Yeah," she said, and wrapped her arms around me in a hug.  
  
We walked out to my car, arm in arm, and we talked in the parking lot for awhile. We eventually made it to the hospital, where Mr. and Mrs. Smith were sitting with the asleep Donovan.  
  
"Honey, I thought you went to school," Mrs. Smith said.  
  
"I was, but I really needed to be here, with my brother. Matt brought me here. How is he?"  
  
Both of her parents sighed, and she never did receive an answer.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Later...  
  
I could not fall asleep like Victoria did, in the uncomfortable hopsital chair. It was not that late, but the Smith family was awfully tired, so they were struggling to keep awake. I was tired as well, but I could sleep. Especially where I had once lost both my mother, and my sister. I turned around to see Mr. Smith sitting awake as well. He wasn't doing or saying anything, just looking at his son.  
  
"I didn't know you were awake," I said.  
  
"Oh, I just woke up, and I wanted to see how Donovan was doing. I just keep thinking that I will look over, and he will be sitting there, alive and well, like nothing ever happened."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I'm so scared, I don't want to lose my son. I might sound selfish, but I want him here with me."  
  
"That's not selfish at all. I want my family here with me."  
  
Mr. Smith looked down, remembering that my mother and sister had both died.  
  
"How are you...about that?" he asked unsurely.  
  
"It was extremely hard on me. Lizzie and I had become very close over last year, and it was really sudden. So was when my mom committed...died. But, you daughter made sure that I got help, and now I am dealing with it. My grandparents have taken guardianship of me, because my dad has nothing to do with me."  
  
"I am so sorry," he said, looking over at the angelic-looking Victoria. "Victoria and Donovan are so close."  
  
"I know. They are both great. Victoria is so sweet and generous, and Donovanm even though I do not know him that well, seems really cool."  
  
"Thanks. You're a good kid, too. And I know that you will help Victoria out with whatever happens."  
  
I smiled, and said, "I can take Victoria home with me or somthing if you want."  
  
Victoria woke up at the mention of her name.  
  
"Victoria, Matt's going to take you back to his home for tonight."  
  
She rubbed her eyes, and said okay. I led her out to my car, and we drove home, mostly silent the entire way.  
  
I walked to the kitchen, and found a note on the table.  
  
MATT-  
  
WE DECIDED TO SPEND THE NIGHT AT OUR HOUSE FOR TONIGHT. PLEASE, NO PARTIES, AND WE LEFT YOU A CHICKEN-TUNA CASSEROLE IN THE FRIDGE.  
  
NANA AND GRAMPS  
  
"Where are your grandparents?" Victoria asked.  
  
"They are at their house for tonight," I answered, opening the fridge. "Ewww, Chicken-Tuna casserole. Hungry?"  
  
Victoria wrinkled her nose.  
  
"No, thanks. I'm just kind of tired."  
  
I put the tinfoil back on the dish.  
  
"Here, you can sleep in my bed. I'll take the couch."  
  
I led her up to my room, where she looked at my clothes, shoes, homework, and scrap pieces of paper that littered the floor.  
  
"Sorry, it's messy."  
  
"That's okay."  
  
I looked through my dresser drawer, and found a t-shirt for her to wear to bed.  
  
"Here, you can wear this for tonight."  
  
She held up the shirt, my soccer jersey from fifth grade. It was huge on me back then, because they ran out of my size.  
  
"Do you have any pants taht I could wear?"  
  
I searched my dresser again, and I found a pair of pajama pants that I hardly ever wore.  
  
"You can wear these," I said, handing them to her.  
  
"Great," she replied, taking her makeshift pajamas. "Where is the bathroom?"  
  
I led her to the bathroom, where she changed and washed her face. I found a toothbrush still in its package for her to use, so she was able to freshen up a little before she went to bed.  
  
She came back to my bedroom, where she climbed into my bed.  
  
"Matt, I am so scared," she said, bursting into tears again. "My brother has been close to death before, but he is so close this time. I don't know what I would do without him."  
  
I sat on the bed next to her.  
  
"He will wake up, and everything will be okay," I said, laying my head down next to hers. "I have faith in the situation."  
  
"How can you be so sure, though?"  
  
"I know that there are somethings that we can't control, and this is one of them. We just have to be strong, and fight through it, and maybe faith will win out in the end."  
  
"That's why I love you so much," she said, kissing me on the lips. "You always know the perfect thing to say to me."  
  
"I love you," I whispered.  
  
We kissed again, but I pulled away.  
  
"I better go set up the couch."  
  
She grabbed my shirt.  
  
"Please...don't leave me."  
  
I climbed back into the bed next to her, and stroked her hair.  
  
"I won't."  
  
She cuddled up next to me, and we spent the whole night next to each other, in each other's arms. 


	15. Chapter 15

Miranda  
  
"Simply amazing."  
  
I had been absorbed in my painting for pretty much the entire hour, so the voice behind me startled me. I turned around to see my art teacher, Mrs. Kim.  
  
"Have you ever had any other lessons before?" she asked.  
  
"No, actually I took a few classes in middle school, but I wasn't very good. My pineapple looked like a skunk. To tell you the truth, I only took this class to fullfill my art requirement for this year."  
  
"It is common for talent not to develop until later on in life. You truly have raw talent, and you should really think about going into art."  
  
"Thank you," I replied, and she walked to another student.  
  
I tried adding a few more flourishes here and there where I thought that they were needed, but another voice interrupted me from behind.  
  
"You know, it's true. You really are amazing at art."  
  
I turned around to see Danny Kessler standing behind me.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
He sat down in the stool next to me.  
  
"I'm really sorry, truly."  
  
"What brought that on?" I asked.  
  
"I'm just sorry for the way we left things."  
  
"I think I remember me beating Gordo up. You don't need to be sorry."  
  
Danny laughed at my sarcasm.  
  
"I'm still sorry."  
  
"You're just sorry because now I am a pregnant loser."  
  
Danny looked away nervously.  
  
"I just wanted to ask if you needed any help or anything."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"I still care about you."  
  
I looked away from my painting, and into Danny's eyes. The look in his eyes was truly genuine, as if he truly wanted to help.  
  
"I still care about you too," I blurted out, not thinking about what I was saying.  
  
His face immediately brightened up.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"I do, but I don't think that you want anything to do with me."  
  
"I really do, Miranda. And I am sorry that I broke up with you."  
  
"You had good reason."  
  
Danny looked down at his fingers, twiddling his thumbs.  
  
"The truth is that...I think I might still love you."  
  
He still looked down, as I immediately looked over at him.  
  
"You what?"  
  
"Ever since we broke up, I can't stop thinking about you. If you are alright. If you need help. I know that you really don't need a relationship with me right now, and I respect that. I just had to tell you how I felt."  
  
"Wow."  
  
"I know."  
  
"It's not just that," I said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I think I still love you, too," I said, grinning ear to ear.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really really."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
LIZZIE  
  
"I KNEW IT!!! HE STILL CARED ABOOUT HER!!!"  
  
I cheered all around my room. I could still remember how perfect the two of them were when they were going out, and I was so happy that they were getting back together.  
  
"What's all the commotion in here?" Lauren asked, poking her head inside the door.  
  
"Miranda and Danny are back together! Did you have anything to do with this?"  
  
Lauren shook her head.  
  
"Some things like that are natural, and they are destined to happen."  
  
"So Miranda and Danny are soulmates?"  
  
Lauren nodded yes.  
  
"So they are in that book?"  
  
Another nod yes.  
  
"Why wouldn't you let me see it?"  
  
"I didn't want to ruin the surprise for you," Lauren joked, and I picked up one of my pillows and threw it at her.  
  
"No really, why?"  
  
"The subject of soulmates just bums me out, that's why."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well, I was married to my soulmate, and I won't see him for a very long time."  
  
"I see."  
  
I flipped through the channels again, until I came to Matt's channel. Ever since Donovan had entered the hospital, I had almost been glued to this channel.  
  
"I hope he doesn't die."  
  
Lauren sighed.  
  
"You never know. It's hard to explain. Sometimes death is destined, but sometimes...it is not."  
  
I continued to watch the channel as Matt and Victoria stayed at my house.  
  
"Matt and Victoria really do love each other, don't they?" I asked.  
  
"They are so lucky."  
  
"I know. They are almost so close that it is scary. Like last night, they completely acted like they had known each other their whole lives, but it's only been a few months."  
  
"I wish I still had that."  
  
"I wish that I could of had that with Gordo."  
  
With our statements of lost love, pensive and wistful silence filled the room. And in this silence, we heard and saw the machine hooked up to Donovan emit one single line, and one long single beep.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Suddenly Victoria snapped to attention.  
  
"I have to go visit my brother, Matt. Something happened."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Mrs. Smith sobbed as the doctors frantically tried to revive her son.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Donovan Smith  
  
I opened my eyes, and saw a plain soccer field. Where am I? Could this be heaven? It smelled like the smell of chocolate chip cookies, the ones that my mom made from scratch. Before I got sick.  
  
Sick. I died from cancer. No matter how much I think about, just saying those words in that order, make me sick to my stomach.  
  
But strangely, I actually feel pretty good. The best that I have felt since I was diagnosed. I was vibrant and full of energy, and I felt good enough to even play a soccer game.  
  
I wandered to the goalpost, where some unfamiliar people were standing. I opened my mouth to talk to them, but I was grabbed by the arm.  
  
A young, blonde girl pulled me in front of her.  
  
"Donovan Smith?"  
  
"Yeah, that would be me," I replied, brushing off my arm. I hoped that I would not bruise from this encounter. I quickly scanned my arms, and they were completely bruise-free. There was not even one of my leukemia bruises.  
  
Another girl stepped forward, but this one had dark brown, and looked like the carbon copy of my twin sister.  
  
"Hello, my name is Victoria Smith," she said in a British accent. If she had not spoken, I would have been completely weirded out by this.  
  
"You look exactly like my sister, Victoria."  
  
"I am your great, great, something or other, great aunt. I died on the Titanic."  
  
I studied her face for a moment, and then I remembered the stories that my mom used to tell us when we were young, about our relative who died trying to save a third class toddler on the Titanic.  
  
"You saved that kid's life!" I exclaimed, finding myself in the presence of this hero.  
  
She blushed modestly, and opened her mouth to tell me something else, but was interrupted by the blonde.  
  
"No more small talk. Donovan, you have to go back."  
  
"I don't really want to go back that much. I feel good for once."  
  
"You have to go back. For your sister," she argued.  
  
"How do you know my sister?"  
  
"Do you know Matt? He is my brother."  
  
I looked at her, and remembered about Matt's sister, Lizzie, who died in a hit-and-run accident.  
  
"Why should I go back?" I said back. "I would still be sick."  
  
"Don't you want to live, though? Keep fighting!" she exclaimed, exasperated.  
  
"I want to live, but not as a sick person."  
  
"If you keep fighting, you will overcome it. Listen to me, please. My brother felt like dying, my mother committed suicide, and my best friend tried. Don't do that to your family."  
  
I looked in Lizzie's pleading eyes, and saw that she cared genuinely.  
  
"I guess you would know. Hey, once Matt and Victoria get married, you and I would be related."  
  
She smiled.  
  
"Yeah. You better hurry, though. Your time is almost up."  
  
I thought about my decision one more time.  
  
"What do I do?"  
  
"Just think about how much you want to live. And before you leave, if you see my brother, tell him that I love him."  
  
I shut my eyes tightly, and thought about everything. Victoria. My parents. School. I opened my eyes to tell Lizzie that it wasn't working, but I found myself laying in a hospital bed.  
  
A nurse hovered over me, and she immediately began to scream, drawing my parents and doctors to my bedside.  
  
"He's awake!"  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Matt and Victoria burst into the room. With the amount of people hovering over Donovan, and the fact that they were all crying, Victoria immediately assumed the worst. She herself burst into tears, and rushed to her brother's bedside.  
  
But instead of seeing what she expected, she saw her brother sitting in his bed.  
  
"Your brother woke up, and he is fine! It's a miracle!" her mother exclaimed through her tears of joy.  
  
"You scared us for a second," their father said, patting Donovan on the back.  
  
Victoria wrapped her arms around him.  
  
"How are you feeling?"  
  
"I am actually feeling pretty good."  
  
He looked around the room, and saw Matt slouched against a wall, with his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Matt...your sister told me to tell you that she loved you."  
  
Everyone in the room gave Matt a strange look.  
  
"My sister?" Matt asked, bewildered.  
  
"Yeah. I saw her, and I saw our great aunt lady who was on the Titanic."  
  
"My namesake?" Victoria asked. "You starting to sound a little Wizard of Oz on me, bro."  
  
"I swear I saw her. Just drop it. I'm glad to be back."  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------- 


	16. Chapter 16

Gordo  
  
I kicked at the clothes on the floor of my bedroom. When Miranda broke her date with me to go with Danny, I knew that I should have felt mad, sad, or anything than what I was feeling.  
  
Relief.  
  
How weird was it that I would be feeling relieved after I had a girl break a date to the prom with me? Pretty weird, but I have not been feeling peachy keen lately.  
  
I knew the real reason that I didn't want to go to the prom with Miranda, but I did not tell anyone because I feared that they would think I was a little bit crazy.  
  
I wanted to go with Lizzie.  
  
Even though I could not, I still wanted to. I yearned for her to still be alive.  
  
I wonder if she knows now. If she has been watching me from heaven, and seen that I loved her the entire time.  
  
The entire time.  
  
FLASHBACK  
  
"Gordo...wow. I did not mean to kiss you. I am so sorry."  
  
I felt like crying as I heard Lizzie utter those words. We had just shared the most magical moment ever on the rooftop.  
  
"I mean, I really don't have those kinds of feelings for you. I think its better off that we just be friends."  
  
I nodded silently.  
  
"We probably would not work out anyways, and then our friendship would be gone."  
  
I nodded again as she rushed back into the party. How could she flit around so carelessly when she had just tore my heart into pieces, stuck in a blender, and then stomped on it?  
  
But with the logic she applied, it was probably best that we stay apart.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I winced as I remembered that memory. It was then that I tried my hardest to get over Lizzie, but I did not succeed. I still felt jealous when I saw her with a boy, and my heart still fluttered when I saw her and she rushed up to me with that special smile that she reserved just for me. Or so I hoped. Even though I tried to deny my feelings, I could not help but have those feelings come back again that one special day.  
  
FLASHBACK  
  
"Gordo, can I come in?"  
  
She stood at my doorway, soaked from the rain, her face streaked with tears.  
  
"What's the matter?"  
  
"Daniel broke up with me."  
  
I wrapped my arms around her in a hug.  
  
"I am so sorry. But why are you here?"  
  
"He was going to drop me off at my house, but I asked him to drop me off here. I could not stand being in the car with him."  
  
"Why did he break up with you?"  
  
"There is somebody else," she replied quietly.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"He likes her more, he explained to me. Why would he like her more than me? She is probably gorgeous."  
  
"Nobody is as pretty as you," I said.  
  
"Thanks, Gordo."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I banished the memory from my mind. I had tried to tell her my feelings that night, but I was too worried that she might be too vulnerable at that time.  
  
So I waited, and waited. But once I would finally muster up the courage to tell her, something would happen, and I would chicken out. The one day that I actually thought that I could do it, she was pulled away from me.  
  
I looked at the clock. Seven on a Friday night, and I was sitting in my room, like the loser that I was.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The only thing that I can do to take away my hurt feelings is to visit her. So I am a crazy person. So sue me.  
  
I trace the letters on her gravestone. LIZZIE MCGUIRE. BELOVED DAUGHTER, SISTER, AND FRIEND. MAY SHE REST IN PEACE.  
  
Friend. Just a friend. That's all I ever was to her. Nothing can change that now.  
  
For the first time in a long while, I start to cry. Not just a single tear running down my cheek, but violent sobs.  
  
Pull yourself together, Gordon. Don't let her see you like this.  
  
What am I saying to myself?  
  
"I'm freaking crazy."  
  
"That's right you are," a voice said from behind that I strangely recognized.  
  
I turned around to see a glimmering vision of white light, and through the light, I saw Lizzie.  
  
"Lizzie..." I whispered.  
  
"Gordo," she said back, smiling. She stroke my cheek with her hand, but all I could feel was a cold breeze.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Hi."  
  
I smiled at the angel in front of me.  
  
"Lizzie, I have to tell you something."  
  
"That you were crazy in love with me the entire time."  
  
I shrugged my shoulders and blushed.  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"I suspected it for a long time. Everytime had told me too, and I..."  
  
She looked down, one single tear grazing her cheek.  
  
"I loved you too. But I would deny it the entire time."  
  
"I always thought that maybe you didn'tthink the same way."  
  
She smiled.  
  
"Prom's next week."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Miranda's due in a few weeks. And you are going to graduate from high school."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But none of it will be fun without you there," I said wistfully.  
  
"I will be there," she replied. Lizzie drew herself closer to me, and wrapped her arms around me. She kissed me on the lips.  
  
It was what I had been hoping for my whole life, and I would remember it for my entire life.  
  
I turned around to find nobody where Lizzie was sitting. All that was sitting there was a single red rose.  
  
A red rose.  
  
Even though Lizzie can't be here with me and Miranda right now, I realized that she is here.  
  
In my heart and always surrounding me in spirit. I returned home later that night, and threw myself full force into my film.  
  
I still needed a few shots from graduation to complete it for myself, but it would do for my college applications.  
  
Little did I know that this film would earn me a full ride scholarship to NYU Film School. 


	17. Chapter 17

**_Gordo's POV_**  
  
I walked throughout the mall, looking at all the throngs of girls my age desparetely trying to find a last-minute prom dress.  
  
They waited a little too late, seeing that prom is TONIGHT. Anyways, why would I care? I'm not even going.  
  
A girl and her mother almost knocked me over as they saw the perfect pair of shoes in the distance. I gave them a look, and the girl gave me a look in return. Wait, I recognized her from school...but I don't remember her name. She is probably muttering the whole thing between Lizzie and I under her breath to her mom.  
  
Why was I at the mall anyway? I usually just sent my mom to do my shopping, or ordered it off the internet. I hate shopping, but today it just seemed right.  
  
Not only was I at the mall, but I was there alone. Single white male guy...AT THE MALL, for freakin' sakes. Doesn't that just spell out pervert? I bet all of those moms are thinking that...telling the daughters to stay away from me.  
  
I looked in the full length mirror that is in the men's department of Dillard's. I did look kind of freaky, with dark circles under my eyes, and my hair was even more scraggly than usual. My freakish appearance was due to two reasons:  
  
1. A lightning bolt struck (metaphorical, not literal), and I just had this huge inspiration for my film. When I'm not at school, I spend almost every waking hour. Now it is finally finished, and in the mail to many colleges.  
  
2. I've been having these really weird dreams lately. Lizzie is in them, but we are at the prom together. They are not sad or anything, but when I wake up, I have this feeling that something good is going to happen.  
  
Maybe I should look like I'm on a dire mission to find shoes to shake all of the suspicious mom eyes. Yeah, that's it.  
  
I causally pick up a pair of pumas, and pretend like I want them. The pesky salesman comes by and asks me if I want help, and I ask him for my size. These shoes are actually pretty cool.  
  
I bring my purchase up to register, and feel good that my expedition to the mall was not completely worthless. Hey, I got a new pair of shoes. But that is not all....the next thing that will happen changed the course of my near future.  
  
Off in the distance, I saw a group of girls laughing about something, to which I felt it safe to assume that they were laughing at me. But in the middle of the group there was a girl that looked strangely familiar...she had long, blonde hair, blue eyes, and she was beautiful.  
  
No, Gordo, you're losing it. That is not Lizzie. She did not come back to life.  
  
But, the way she smiled and laughed was uncanny....that was definitely her. Unless she is a hallucination.  
  
I grabbed my shoes and ran over to the group.  
  
"Lizzie," I said, tapping her on the shoulder. She casually turned around with a weird look on her face, and I thought, Crap. It's not her.  
  
"Lizzie?" she asked, looking a little weirded out. "My name is Erica."  
  
Her friends dispersed, probably thinking I would pull out a gun or something.  
  
"Sorry...I just thought..." I stammered. "I just thought you were a good friend of mine. You could be her twin."  
  
"Really?" she said smiling. "I'm new here."  
  
"Were those your friends? I think I scared them away," I asked, gesturing torwards her friends, who were all in different areas of the store.  
  
"Those are my cousins," she replied. "They were showing me around town."  
  
We both nodded awkwardly for a second, and she shifted her weight nervously onto her other foot.  
  
"Are you going to go to Hilridge?" I asked.  
  
"Actually, I graduated early from my old high school at semester. I going to live here with my aunt and uncle while I go to UCLA."  
  
"That's a far commute," I said, mentally hitting myself at the stupidity of my comment.  
  
"What can I say?" she replied, throwing her hands in the air, as if she was asking something. "Don't want to pay room and board."  
  
There was something in her eyes, like she was hiding something, but since we just met and all, I was not about to press her for it.  
  
"I can show you around town," I suggested, and her eyes lit up.  
  
"I would really like that," she said. "But I don't even know your name."  
  
"Oh," I said, and we both laughed. "David Gordon, but most people call me Gordo."  
  
"Gordo...I like that."

* * *

Matt's POV  
  
I sat on my bed, picking at my guitar, trying to come up with a tune, while Victoria sat on my armchair, trying to concentrate on her math homework.  
  
"Matt," she said. "Don't you think it was weird? What Donovan said?"  
  
I was startled, but then again, it was not the first time she brought up this subject.  
  
"I already told you my thoughts about that."  
  
"Matt, he specifically told you that your sister loved you," Victoria said once again, as she did in every conversation we had about that subject.  
  
"Yeah, and he also said he met a lady that was on the Titanic," I replied, my common reply. "He was probably dreaming."  
  
This answer satisfied her for a second, but then she got that look in her eyes like she wanted to know something.  
  
"But..." she started. "Never mind."  
  
I struck a chord on my guitar, and wrote the progession in my head down.  
  
"Doesn't this time of the year stink?" she asked, with a completely random subject. "We don't even get to go to prom."  
  
"Isn't that right now?" I asked, only half paying attention.  
  
"Yeah," she said, throwing down her pencil. "I hate algebra so much."  
  
I laughed at her pouting.  
  
"Stop laughing at me!" she exclaimed, throwing one of my pillows at me.  
  
We began to have a little pillow fight, and our fight was interrupted by the ring of my cell phone.  
  
I flipped it open, and I saw an unfamiliar number.  
  
"Hello?" I said, expecting to hear some sort of wrong number.  
  
"Is this Matt?" the voice asked, and I placed it with one of the seniors on the soccer team, Danny Kessler.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"This is Danny Kessler, and I was going to the prom with Miranda Sanchez," he replied, confirming my hunch. "She has gone into labor."  
  
"She's what?"  
  
"We're at the hospital right now, and she wanted me to call you, and Gordo. She really wants you guys to be there."  
  
"I'll be there in a sec," I replied, flipping my phone shut.  
  
"Who was that?" Victoria asked.  
  
"We got to go to the hospital...Miranda is in labor."

* * *

Gordo's POV  
  
Erica and I sat down to eat dinner at a Subway, as we had spent most of the day together. She was uncannily just like Lizzie, and we immediately clicked as I showed her around town.  
  
"So...is this like the only place in Hilridge? I knew it was a small town, but geez," Erica said. Yes, she had the same sense of humor as Lizzie did.  
  
I laughed, and my cell phone rang. As I looked at the caller ID, I saw Danny Kessler's name. We had gotten to be pretty good friends when he and Miranda were dating.  
  
"G-man, Miranda is in labor."  
  
He could not have shocked me more if he said the planet Earth was being invaded by aliens.  
  
"What?"  
  
"She wants you there," he nervously replied.  
  
"I'll be there in a sec," I said, and I hung up quickly.  
  
"Erica," I said. "Do you want to come to the hospital with me?"  
  
A concerned look washed over her face.  
  
"Is something wrong?"  
  
"You know that friend I told you about...Miranda? She is having her baby."


	18. Chapter 19

Gordo sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair, pouring his bag of Gardettos onto a napkin on the table in front of them. He separated the things he liked and didn't like as he waited for Erica, who had gone to the bathroom. 

Erica came back, still wide-eyed with surprise and amazement. She was still wearing what she had on the day before, and now had her hair pulled back into a messy bun.

"Hey," Erica greeted Gordo as she sat down across from him. "Can I have some?"

Gordo nodded, and Erica proceeded to pick all of the brown chips out of the mixture.

"Those are my favorite," he said to her, pretending that she had deeply hurt him. And they were Lizzie's favorite as well, he thought to himself.

"Mine too," she replied, popping one into her mouth. "So, I've been thinking. This was a really crazy first day knowing you."

Gordo just stared at her, amazed at the long list of similarities between Lizzie and Erica.

"I feel like I've known you for a really long time," she said, nervously breaking a pretzel apart. "But I haven't even known you for 24 hours."

"I know what you mean," Gordo said in an almost hushed tone. "It's creepy."

"I mean, I barely even know your last name, and that's just because...you know, it's part of your nickname. Do you know anything about me?" she questioned him.

"You haven't exactly been forthcoming with information," he replied. "Why did you move here?"

Erica sighed, and paused, a piece of Gardetto halfway up to her mouth. She set it back down on the table, and looked Gordo straight in the eyes.

"Gordo," she said seriously. "If we are going to be involved, there is something that I need to tell you."

Gordo leaned in closer to the table, dying to know her secret.

"You will never figure me out," she said quietly. "There are...things, that I can't tell you right now, and there are things that I will probably never be able to tell you. My cousins that I have known my entire life don't even know the entire truth."

Gordo paused for a brief second, shocked by her disclosure.

"Wait here," she said, changing the subject. "I've got to go talk to an old friend.

As she rushed off, Gordo became even more puzzled, but yet drawn to her. Erica walked down the hall, finding her "old friend" in one of the doctors. Gordo was sure that this was part of her secret.

Matt and Victoria strolled up to the table, arm in arm. They both pulled up chairs and sat at the table.

"Gordo, your new friend..." Matt trailing off.

"Looks just like Lizzie," Gordo finished.

"It's uncanny. She acts just like Lizzie too."

"I met her yesterday," Gordo said, as Matt fished through his pile of Gardettos.

"Yesterday?" Victoria exclaimed, raising her eyebrows. "I could have sworn that you two had known each other at least more than a day."

"I actually don't really know her all that well," Gordo replied. "In fact, I don't why she moved here, or where her parents are."

"Doesn't she look familiar though?" Victoria asked.

"I've told you, you only know her from the pictures of Lizzie," Matt replied, grabbing a pile of pretzels and stuffing them into his mouth.

Gordo pulled his snack closer to him. "Can everyone just leave my food alone?" he joked.

"OOOOOOO...I know where I know her from!" Victoria exclaimed, frantically waving her hands.

"Whoa...calm down there," Matt said, slightly not understandable due to large amount of food stuffed in his mouth.

"She's Ricca! Ricca McKenzie!" Victoria exclaimed. "I don't know why I couldn't think of it. We used to be neighbors."

"But she doesn't even seem to you," Matt said condescendingly.

"We were, like, five, and her family suddenly moved away one day. We didn't say goodbye, or know where she went. Isn't her cousin that Parker McKenzie?" Erica said, stuffing a bunch of breadsticks into her mouth.

"I don't know, I just met her," Gordo responded. "Why don't you guys just buy your own bag?"

The two of them pulled their hands away from Gordo's Gardettos defensively.

"Sorry," Matt said. "Seriously"

* * *

Meanwhile, Erica sat, slumped down in a chair in another wing of the hospital. Her face was pale and drained of the wonder and amazement that it once held.

Talking to an "old friend" really was not fun. He told her probably the worst news possible, but there was no one that she could confide with at all. And there was no way she could go out to the waiting room and confront Gordo.

Suddenly, her cell phone began to vibrate. Looking at the caller ID, she saw her cousin Parker's name.

"Hello?"

"Erica! Where have you been? Lissy said that you went off with some guy from Hilridge High School, and my mom and dad are worried sick," Parker said in one breath.

Erica was living at her house, along with Parker's two younger sisters and their parents.

"Well...I went with this guy, and we spent the whole day together, and then he had an emergency with his friend, so now I'm at the hospital," Erica said calmly, knowing that she would have to explain the whole situation once again.

"Who did you go with? For all you know, he could be a serial rapist."

"David Gordon."

There was silence on the other line, and after a long pause, Parker sighed loudly.

"Erica-"

"Parker, he was really nice and very gentlemanly...so don't try to tell me that there is something wrong with him," Erica said, worrying that her cousin may be right.

"It's just that...the whole school thinks he's crazy."

Erica sat in shocked silence.

"His best friend, and the, like, love of his life, was killed in a hit-and-run car accident last year, and he kind of went off the deep end. He tried to kill himself," Parker explained. "What did he say to you?"

Erica tried to remember all of the things that they had talked about, and with a jolt, she remembered that first things that he said to her.

"Was she named Lizzie?"

"Yeah. Did he tell you?"

"No," she answered. "He just said that I looked a lot like her."

"Omigosh, Erica. I'm coming to pick you up," Parker said worridely. "He's trying to replace Lizzie with you."

Parker hung up her phone, and Erica shoved hers back into her pocket. This may as well be the time to face him, and cut things off for good.

* * *

"Gordo." 

Gordo turned around to find Erica standing behind him, her face looking extremely pale and thin.

"I have to go," she said. "Listen, I don't know what's going on between us, but-"

"What's the matter?" Gordo asked. He was soon joined by Matt and Victoria, who were returning from the vending machines.

"I...I just have to go," she stammered, wringing her hands.

"Can I have your number?" Gordo asked. "I want to hang out with you again."

"No, Gordo, you can't," she replied, looking down at the floor. "We, I mean I, don't want to do this anymore."

Gordo was becoming increasingly distraught by her appearance and demeanor.

"But I want to," he urged. "And I thought you did too."

He placed his hand on her shoulder, hoping that its presence would comfort her.

"Stop it! I know what you're trying to do," she shrieked, and some of the hospital personnel stopped, and turned to watch.

"Trying to do what?" he asked, pulling away.

"You're trying to replace your dead friend with me," she cried. "I'm sorry, but I like you, and I don't want to be your new Lizzie."

She fell down into a chair, silently weeping. Part of her tears were from what actually was happening, but most of them were because of what she just learned from the doctor.

"Erica?"

Parker McKenzie strode through the hospital corridor.

"Parker?" Gordo asked, suddenly extremely confused. He watched as she comforted Erica, and pulled her arm around her shoulder.

"We're leaving," she retorted in Gordo's face. "I really don't appreciate what you're trying to do, Gordo. She's having a really tough time in her life."

"Thanks, but if I'm going to get dismissed, can I at least talk to her a little?" Gordo asked.

Parker sighed and bit her lip, but she nodded.

Gordo tried to gently take Erica's hand, and he led her to an empty table to sit.

"I don't know what it looks like, but that was not what I was trying to do," he said. "I really like you too, not just because you look like Lizzie."

Erica contined to sob, and she looked upward at Gordo.

"You don't know anything about me, Gordo. I...can't do this right now. I just got some really bad news, and I need some alone time," she replied, surprisingly calm.

"I can be there for you," he said. "I don't know what all your cousin told you, but I also have problems."

"I just can't tell you," she exclaimed, standing up from her chair. "There's no way."

Parker grabbed her, all while glaring at Gordo.

"But if you really like me," she said, turning around to face Gordo. "Talk to him."

She scribbled a name on a receipt, and handed it to Gordo.

"I'll see you later."

* * *

An hour later, Gordo sat alone at the same table, folding and refolding the paper in his hands. Matt and Victoria had left since the conflict, and every once in awhile, a member of the hospital staff would give him a weird look. 

He was actually debating not talking to Erica's person. There was a part of him that didn't want to know what she was trying to hide.

But everytime he started to leave, the thought of not seeing her again sat him back down.

"Hey Gordo."

Gordo glanced upwards and saw Danny Kessler standing above him. He soon pulled out a chair and sat across the table.

"Hey Danny...Congratulations on everything," Gordo greeted him. "I hope that you and Miranda are very happy."

"Me too. It just seemed like the right thing to do," Danny replied. "My parents actually kicked me out when they heard what I was planning."

Gordo looked at his friend closely.

"Couldn't you just have waited until after college?"

"I'll admit, it was a little rushed, but the truth is, I want her to be happy. Some of this problem belongs to me for breaking up with her," he answered. "With me helping her, we can both raise little Lizzie and go to college at the same time."

The very sound of the name Lizzie made Gordo even more sad. He wanted the same happiness that Danny and Miranda were going to have.

"Where are you guys going?"

"I got a basketball scholarship to Hilridge Community College, and she's going to go there to study art," Danny answered. "We have it all planned out."

Gordo just looked down at his hands, and the piece of paper he was still holding.

"Hey, where's that girl that you came with?" Danny asked curiously. "She looked exactly like Lizzie. Is she your new girlfriend?"

"I don't know. Everything is so confusing," Gordo replied, rather dejectedly. "There's something that is keeping her from me, but she won't tell me. She said to talk to this guy if I really liked her and wanted to know."

Gordo put the piece of paper in the middle of the table.

"Are you going to?"

"I don't know if I should, or just let her go," Gordo responded. "I don't want to mess with her when she's in a tough time in her life."

"I think that you have to."

Gordo looked at his friend.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...you can't just let it go," Danny said.

"I can't?"

"No! You have to pursue it, or you'll never know how it would have ended up."

"Thanks for that," Gordo said, standing up from his chair. "I have to go find this guy."

Gordo rushed to the information desk.

"Can I speak to a Dr. Mike Simmons?"

"Sure. Let me page him, and he'll be here shortly."

Gordo nervously waited for what he was going to find out.

"Did you want to speak with me?"

Gordo turned around and saw a youngish doctor standing there. In fact, it was the same doctor that he had seen Erica talking to earlier. Her "old friend."

"Erica McKenzie told me to talk to you about her."

A look of relief, but yet anxiety overcame the doctor's face.

"Yes, she's my sister," he answered. "What do you want to know?"

Questions raced throughout Gordo's head. Where were her parents? Why did she move? Why did her brother have a different last name? Why did her family suddenly move without explanation? But he settled on one simple question.

"Is she sick?"

Her brother cleared his throat.

"Yes."


	19. Chapter 18

Lizzie clicked through the channels, finally landing on Gordo's channel. She saw him meet Erica, but she soon lost interest after she saw Gordo and Erica entering the subway. 

She heard a knock on the door, and yelled, "Come in!

It was Lauren, who came bearing a bag of cookies.

"What's going on with you Lizzie?" she asked nicely. "I brought cookies."

"What do you want?" Lizzie asked jokingly.

"I just wanted to know if there was anything you wanted to talk about, and since our relationship is so hot and cold, I brought cookies to ease the pain," she explained.

"Don't worry, the procedure will be painless today," Lizzie said. "I have a few questions to ask you."

"Shoot," Lauren replied while cramming a cookie in her mouth.

"I thought Gordo and I were soulmates, so who is Erica?"

Lauren swallowed her cookie.

"Well.....it's really complicated. Are you sure you want me to explain it all?"

"Yes."

"Okay, well, everyone alive has one soulmate, right?" Lauren asked Lizzie.

"Right."

"But what if that one soulmate is killed? Are they supposed to go on living without anyone? What if they want someone to be with?"

"I never thought of that," Lizzie said, thinking of the new possibilities.

"That's where Erica comes in."

"But...she looks just like me," Lizzie said, suddenly confused.

"That's because she is part of you. Your still-living subconscious."

"My what?"

"You had unsolved problems before your death, and you deeply just want Gordo to be happy right?" Lauren tried to explain. "That is where she comes into play."

"Wait....."

"Erica is a part of you that is still living."

"She's not a real person?" Lizzie asked, even more confused.

"She is a real person...with the same birthday as you, with the same looks, and the same personality?"

All of the facts were running around Lizzie's head.

"She was alive at the same time as me?"

"Yep. But you never met, and now she is filling the void in Gordo's life."

Lizzie was about to have a headache, if people in heaven could even have headaches.

"Okay, let's just let it die, and let it be," she said, hoping to end this mind-boggling conversation.

Lizzie and Lauren continued to make insignificant small talk, until Victoria Smith burst through the room.

"Lizzie, I walked as fast as I could here," she said, almost out of breath.

"Walked?" Lizzie asked. "Why didn't you just run?"

"Proper ladies don't 'run,'" she said, smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress. "Anyways, you must turn on Miranda's channel right away. I was watching young Victoria, and she is at the hospital right now. Miranda is in labor!"

"OH MY GOSH!" Lizzie yelled in joy, and scrambled to find the remote.

Miranda was in the hospital, and she was struggling through labor. Lizzie knew that she should be there, and closed her eyes, wishing she was.

Then everything went black.

* * *

"PUSH, Miranda, PUSH!" a nurse standing by her yelled. "You're doing great, keep on doing it." 

Miranda looked over to her right, where Danny Kessler stood, still in his tux. He was holding her hand tightly, and he smiled at her, kissing her hand as she looked over at him.

Suddenly, Miranda felt a warm, serene, and calm spirit come over her. She looked over to her left, where thorugh the window she saw Gordo, Matt, Victoria watching in a window. Her parents were standing to her left as well, but she felt yet another presence in the room.

She looked to her left hand again. Lizzie was holding it, or it was the angel of her. She had a flowing, white dress, and a single gold chain around her.

"Miranda, you can do it. I wish I could be here with you physically, but know that I am always here with you in spirit."

Lizzie squeezed her hand, as Miranda watched her in amazement.

"Miranda, I love you so much. Good luck."

Suddenly, Miranda's labor pains diminished drastically, and she gave one last push. When she heard the cries of her infant, she knew it was over.

"It's a girl!" the nurse exclaimed, and everyone cheered in joy. Danny kissed her on the cheek, and her parents rushed up to her side.

Miranda looked over to her left, but Lizzie had disappeared.

"Honey, you were so great," her mom exclaimed.

"Lizzie was here...and it all felt painless," Miranda explained, and her dad rubbed her forehead.

"That must have been the pain medication, sweetie."

As the nurse cleaned up her baby girl, and handed her to Miranda to hold, her parents watched with pride.

"What is her name?" the nurse asked.

"Elizabeth...Elizabeth Brooke Sanchez," Miranda answered confidently.

"Or how about Elizabeth Brooke Kessler?" Danny proposed, and knelt down beside the bed.

"What are you doing, Danny?" Miranda asked.

"I was going to ask you at the prom, but I guess this is a great moment. Will you marry me?"

"Marry you?" Miranda asked, speechless.

"I want to spend my life with you, and I want to help you with your child...I just can't wait any longer."

"Neither can I. Of course I will," Miranda answered, with tears in her eyes.

* * *

Lizzie was transported back to heaven, where she had tears in her own eyes. 

"That was awesome," she said. "I am so happy"

* * *

However, her happiness could have been shot down at the discovery of what was on another channel. Past her mother's (whose was all black), to a channel she had never been before. 

Sam Mcguire looked through the contents of his closet, and finally found what he was looking for. He pulled out a small box, and opened it. Newspaper clippings and photos of his deceased daughter Lizzie spilled out, and he started to cry.

**Young Hilridge Student Killed in Hit-and-Run Accident**, he read off of one of the articles on the top. Lizzie was dead, nobody knew who it was.

Except for Jo Mcguire.

Sam crumbled the article in his hands. She wasn't supposed to know. How did she know?

He picked up an envelope that laid at the bottom. It was from his wife, shortly after he left her.

**_I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, AND I KNOW THAT ITS YOUR FAULT. YOU KILLED OUR DAUGHTER._**

A huge tear dropped to the note, blearing the text on the note, as he flashbacked to what happened that day.

The day that derailed his delicate life as he knew it.

* * *

_FLAHSBACK_

He picked up his briefcase, and grabbed a glass of orange juice as he ran out the door. His wife, who was sitting at the kitchen table glared at him from her glasses, and did not say a word to him as he left their house.

At work, his mistress called him, and asked him to meet at three o'clock. He looked at his watch, which read 2:30, and felt that he should leave early and get her a bouqet of flowers.

As he was driving down the street, he saw his children's high school on the left. He felt a sudden pang of guilt as he thought about what he was doing to them. Sam's phone rang, and the answer only intensified his grief.

"Why aren't you at work?" the impatient voice of his wife asked.

"I am at work."

"Your secretary told me that you left at 2:30. Where are you?" she yelled on the other end.

"Jo...please just calm down.." Sam tried to calm his angry wife.

"No, I won't calm down. You are going to see your mistress! Think about your children-"

Sam shut the phone off, cutting off his wife. Though they had stopped talking, he still felt really jumpy, and was not paying attention to the road, as he felt a distinct thud.

What did I hit? he asked himself absentmindedly, but did not stop for a second. He drove on quickly; he was very late to meet his mistress.

An hour later, his phone rang again, and it was his wife.

After she had said the worst possible thing, Sam began to connect two and two together. He killed his daughter....he was driving the car....and he was going to cheat on his wife.

It was all too much, and Sam just broke down in the middle of the restaurant.

"What's wrong?" his girlfriend asked.

"I have to stay with my wife...we can't do this anymore."

"What happened?"

"She knows," Sam said, dejectedly. Even though Jo had not come out and said it, he knew that she knew.

* * *

About two weeks after Lizzie's death, the T.V. mentioned her death in passing as a filler story on the news. Something about how her killer had not been caught, and how they found more clues. The details were going to be on at ten. 

Sam came home from work around eight, earlier than what he usually had been in the last weeks. The time he spent with Jo and Matt was extremely awkward, and he honestly could not remember having a significant conversation with either of them. Most of his time off of work he spent at his girlfriend's, for after a couple of days, he had gone back to her.

He knew a couple of things, though. Matt was giving up soccer, and acting out at school. Jo knew that he was cheating on her, but she wanted everything to be alright for the time being.

But that night, he came home to find Jo sobbing.

"Sam....she's dead," Jo said through her tears.

Matt just continued to stare off into space, looking at one space on the wall, not moving at all.

"Matt..." Sam began to say, gently stroking his son's hair, but Matt quickly jerked his head away.

"How can you even comfort me? You're a monster!" Matt yelled, jumping out of his seat. "You were going to see your mistress."

"I can't believe you," he yelled once more, and he collapsed on the couch in a crying heap.

Jo just glared at Sam, and instantly went to comfort her son.

"Matt...please don't do this right now."

"You don't understand. She was the only not busy enough to care about what I was doing. In the stands at state soccer, which one of you was there? Neither of you. You conveniently forgot about it because you wanted to avoid each other. Lizzie was the only one there," Matt choked through his sobs. "You missed the soccer banquet when I got my award because you were in counseling....but Lizzie was there. She even made dessert for the potluck dinner."

"This isn't my fault," Sam said defensively.

"Yes it is," Matt shot back. "You want to know that Lizzie cried this morning over your fighting? I told her to get over it."

Suddenly Sam was overcome with emotion...the emotions of the past two weeks caused him to snap.

"Maybe if you weren't such a druggie loser, none of this wouldn't have happened," Sam yelled back. "Your pot smoking caused the rift in your mother and I's relationship, not anything I did."

Jo glared at Sam with dark, angry eyes.

"It was your cheating that caused the rift. He had nothing to do with it."

Sam threw his hands up into the air in exasperation.

"I can't take this anymore...I'm leaving," he yelled. He looked to Matt, whose face almost had an expression of relief, and then to Jo, who crumbled onto the floor.

"Fine, go. We don't want you here," Matt yelled. "Be with your girlfriend, and escape the reality."

"I will."

With those two cold words, Sam went up to his room to pack his bags, and Jo continued to sob. Matt hugged his mother, but she seemed to be frozen in shock.

Sam shoved all of his things into a couple of bags, and rushed out the door. He didn't actually have much, because he had moved a lot of his stuff to his girlfriend's house in the past couple of months. As he gave one last look to his wife and his son, he felt relieved that he would never have to face the guilt of killing Lizzie ever again.


	20. Chapter 20

Gordo cleared his throat nervously. What had happened to Erica? 

"Umm...what does she have?" Gordo asked, trying to not act pushy and annoying to her brother.

"She doesn't really have anything. She's actually a victim of child abuse by our mother," Dr. Simmons answered.

Gordo was floored, but yet his questions were largely left unanswered.

"Full medical term is Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy," he continued. "I really shouldn't be revealing this to you. You know, doctor confidentiality and all."

"Are you her doctor?" Gordo retorted. "I mean, she sent me to you for an explanation."

"I can make few exceptions, and I guess that I can for you," he said. "Our mom started it with her when she was seven, about the time that I was graduating from medical school. We are actually only half-siblings, I'm from my mom's first marriage. That explains our age difference."

"What is it?" Gordo asked. "Is it mental or physical?"

"Both, I guess. My mom dragged her to every doctor and hospital on the planet, insisting that there was something wrong with her."

"Did they move a lot or something?"

"Well, they did live here in Hilridge, but my mother insisted on moving close to the hospital, so one night she packed everything up and moved, so she wouldn't have to provide an explanation," he answered. "The details about what she did are still being uncovered."

"When did it end?" Gordo asked. "I mean, she must have been near close to death."

"My mom's insistance on her illnesses led to her having actual problems with her health. Erica's father's sister started to suspect that something was wrong, and conducted a thorough investigation. Erica was removed from their care, and placed into police custody. After that she had endure a hospital stay for illnesses that resulted from the abuse," he explained.

"And she's staying with her aunt now, right?" Gordo wanted to know.

"Yeah, my aunt volunteered to be her guardian," he answered. "She's a really strong and smart girl, though, I have to commend her on her strength. She lived through it, which most don't, and she is even going to college."

"Did you know about it?" Gordo asked, sounding a little accusatory. "I'm sorry. It must be hard for you too."

"No, it's okay. I was gone the whole time, with my own family."

"I can't believe this. It's almost too weird to be true," Gordo said, too shocked to comprehend what was happening. "What did you tell her, about an hour ago?"

"Our mom is fighting to regain custody, and apparently, there is enough evidence of Erica's "ailments" that she might win."

Saying that, Dr. Simmons looked extremely angry. Gordo still could not understand why something like that could happen.

"Do you like my sister?" Dr. Simmons asked out of curiosity. "She deserves a bit of happiness."

"Yeah, she does," Gordo answered. "We both do"

* * *

Matt pulled his car into his driveway, and turned to Victoria. 

"My grandparents are gone for the evening. Do you want to come in?"

Victoria anxiously nodded, and the two strolled into the house.

Both Matt and Victoria were completely floored to see that the house was completely ransacked. Papers were strewn across the floor, every drawer was pulled open, and there were no signs of any breaking or entering.

"Somebody broke into our house," Matt exclaimed.

"No, somebody was looking for something. The major electronics are still here," Victoria answered. "And they had a key."

"I'm going to call the police," Matt stated, reaching for the phone.

Victoria almost slapped his hand.

"Don't touch that! It could have evidence on it," she yelled. "Use your cell phone."

Matt pulled out his cell phone, and reported the crime to the police, who informed him that they would be shortly arriving.

"I can't believe anyone would do this. Honestly," Matt explained to the police when they arrived. "Do you think it had anything to do with...my sister or my mother?"

The police officer looked up from his notepad. That was the first time that he had heard that idea.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. That's the only thing that's happened to my family."

After the officer was informed that there were distinct footprints and fingerprints present all over the house, besides the current residents, Matt turned to Victoria.

"I guess that ruined our day," he said apologetically.

"It's alright. I'm glad that I could be here with you."

He kissed the top of her head, and put his arm around her waist.

The officer returned to the couple.

"Alright, we gathered evidence so that we can begin our investigation, but we advise that you stay somewhere else tonight."

He then climbed into his squad car, and speedily drove away.

"Don't worry, you can stay at my house tonight. My parents aren't home either," Victoria assured him. "Donovan had a checkup in Los Angeles."

"What are you trying to implicate?" Matt said mischieviously.

"Nothing. You can sleep in Donovan's room...or on the couch," she joked, adding an icy tone to her voice.

* * *

Once getting to her house, the two decided to have a movie-watching marathon. But of course, as the day progressed, they could not pay attention to the movies. 

"Who do think it was?" Matt asked Victoria.

"Are you still dwelling on that?" she asked, entwining her arm around his neck. "Let's talk about something more pleasant. Like you. And me."

Matt laughed, but he still could shake his nervous feeling that the robbery was about something better.

"I love you so much," he said, but as much as he wanted to devote his full attention to her, he still could not disregard his other thoughts.

She kissed him on the lips.

"If you want to, I guess we'll have a 'serious discussion,'" Victoria joked, putting her fingers into quotation marks.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

Victoria's face clouded with a sense of seriousness suddenly.

"I've been thinking lately," she said slowly. "And I haven't seen my parents for about one-third of the past month."

"It's just that...I thought this crap would end when Donovan made a full recovery."

Tears were welling up in Victoria's eyes, and Matt could judge from her tone that this was exactly what she wanted to talk about. It was probably bugging her.

"Sometimes I wish that I would be the one with leukemia so my parents would pay attention to me," she said, bursting into sobs. "That sounds horrible."

"No, it really doesn't. I completely understand," Matt comforted her, pulling her into his chest.

"All my life, it was 'sorry, Vic, you can't take gymnastics lessons, because we need that money for chemotherapy,' or 'Donovan has a doctor appointment, we can't come to your recital.' They forgot they had a daughter in the process."

Matt held her face in his hand.

"Your parents love you, I promise," he said, his own eyes tearing up. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"I was ashamed. I sound so stupid for saying all of this," she said. "I want a day where I can have them to myself. I haven't had that since...before Donovan got sick."

"This is not stupid. My childhood was sort of the same, except Lizzie just got more attention because she was the perfect child," he explained. "Always perfect. At everything. So I tried to act out so that maybe one day they would focus on something that I did, instead of her."

"And that didn't work out too well, I presume," Victoria asked.

"Well, one day I tried pot, and after that it went too far," Matt said. "Everything was my fault, according to my parents, after that. Their drifting apart was even my fault."

"What happened?" Victoria asked.

"I was determined after rehab, that they would see me like Lizzie. So I tried really hard at soccer. And I was good at it," Matt recounted. "But it didn't work, because then they forgot that they even had children. They were too busy hating each other."

"Listen to us," Victoria said, amusingly. "We sound like two whiny, spoiled brats."

"We are two peas in a pod. Soulmates," Matt replied, laughing at her response.

"Have you thought about...us? Our future?" Victoria asked. "I've been thinking a lot about it lately."

"About what?" Matt asked, confused. Did she want to break up?

"Basically, our home lives suck for different reasons. My parents are gone all the time, partly because my brother was sick, but mostly because they are off at rich people benefits a lot of the time. You're basically an orphan, and you basically live by yourself."

"And?" Matt asked, not knowing at what she was getting at.

"And we spend so much time together. Like pretty much every moment of our waking hours," she explained. "Why don't we...never mind."

She suddenly looked down at her feet, extremely embarassed.

"Why don't we what?"

"I want to marry you, Matt," she exclaimed. "Let's get married, move in together, and make it official what we've known."

Matt was stunned to silence.

"We're only about to be juniors," he finally responded. "We're way too young to deal with that."

"Matt, we have overcome so many obstacles, and we are so mature before our time," Victoria pleaded. "We know that we love each other so much."

"Okay. I can't believe that you, the sane one of us two, is wanting this," Matt stated. "First of all, we don't have money. Your parents would never agree, and what if something happens?"

"Something like what?" Victoria asked.

"High School, maybe. What if...accidently, you get pregnant or something, and we have to throw our dreams away? What if we break up? What if we go broke?"

"First of all, we can work this summer, and save up our money. We don't even have to get our own place, too, because we can live in our guest house. We will be really careful until we graduate and are sure that we want kids, and I'm sure that our relationship is completely safe."

Slowly and unwillingly, Matt was beginning to see the logic in Victoria's idea. He loved her, and everytime he thought of family, he thought of her. Not his stoic grandparents, who still continued to pass judgement on him for his past mistakes.

"I can see it. We spend like, six out of seven nights together a week. We can still live in your house. It'll be perfect," Matt exclaimed, hugging Victoria in his arms.

"Let's do it tonight," Victoria said impulsively. "Let's run off somewhere and elope."

"I think we should clear it with your parents first," Matt replied. "I doubt that they will even consider it."

"They are going to be home tomorrow morning. We can propose it to them then," Victoria practically responded.


	21. Chapter 21

Matt went home to get a few things from the crime scene, leaving Victoria in her house by herself. She picked up a pile of mail, and noticed one piece that had already fallen in the trash. 

She picked it up and noticed that it was addressed to her.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DISTRICT GYMNASTICS INVITATIONAL

Opening it quickly, realizing the enormity of the situation, she read the first lines.

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE BEEN NOMINATED TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR REGIONAL COMPETITION. SINCE YOU HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO OUR PREVIOUS NOTICES, WE HAVE EXTENDED YOUR DEADLINE ONCE AGAIN...

Victoria was extremely confused. "Since you have not responded?" she read to herself again, and she decided to call her parents up.

"Hello?" her mother answered. "Vic, is this you?"

"Yes mom. Have you seen this letter from the Southern California District Gymnastics Invitational?"

Her mother sighed into the phone.

"Vic, those things cost a lot of money, and we don't have that," she replied. "Besides, you'll be busy with cheerleading."

"That doesn't start until the school year. You let Donovan go to that expensive soccer camp two summers ago," Victoria said accusingly.

"He had just beaten cancer, honey, he deserved to be happy."

Tears were quickly welling up in Victoria's eyes.

"Don't I deserve something?" she cried, hanging up the phone.

She held the letter in her hands, trembling from the crushing blow. Once Matt would return, they would make some more future plans, and maybe she could forget about this.

* * *

Matt was meanwhile returning home to get a couple changes of clothing. The police were still hustling about his house, so he also was hoping for some information. 

"Matt Mcguire. You returned," the officer he had spoken to earlier said. "We have some information on the case."

Matt sat down at his kitchen table anxiously.

"So?" he asked. "What were they looking for?"

"Were you aware that your mother was blackmailing somebody?"

The news hit Matt, leaving him shocked and stunned.

"I had no idea," he replied, watching the officer put a big box onto the table. "Who?"

"We have a reasonable suspicion. This box right here was what they were looking for."

"Why didn't they get it?" Matt asked.

"No time, I suppose. We think that you and your girlfriend interrupted him, because we found a back window open, with this box on the ground."

The two sat in silence for a second, amidst the business of the crime scene.

"Don't tell me who it was, I don't want to know," Matt suddenly said, standing up and ascending the staircase towards his room.

Grabbing only a few shirts, Matt looked at himself in his wall mirror. Tucked around the edges were several pictures; mostly of him and Victoria, but a few with Lizzie, some with his soccer buddies, and one with his mother when he was a toddler. Impulsively, overcome by a strange feeling, he snatched each picture one by one, and stuffed them into his backpack.

Saying goodbye to the officers, he sped away in his car, leaving them to only wonder about his sudden departure.

Turning down the radio, he dialed Victoria's home phone number on his cell phone. At one ring, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Victoria, I know something that I need to tell you when I get to your house."

"Why didn't you just wait then?" she responded, bewildered by his actions.

"I'll see you then. I love you," he said quickly. "I seriously love you so much."

"I love you too," she said, still bewildered.

"Victoria?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

Matt hung up the phone, leaving Victoria puzzled with his crytic message.

* * *

Meanwhile, down her street, a mysterious black car sat parked by a mailbox. 

Inside, one man sat by himself, keeping a watchful eye on who entered and left the street. He was only waiting for his son, Matt.

It was Sam Mcguire, and he was not only watching the street, but he was carefully listening to the bug that he placed in his own house.

He heard that they suspected him for not only the ransacking, but the death of Lizzie and his own wife.

He heard Matt being briefed on some of what had happened.

And when he heard his son leave, he waited for a little while before pressing a button to activate the bomb inside his house.

Everything was unraveling around him. The police were quickly closing in on him before he broke into the house to try to find everything that could incriminate him. He placed it into a box, but after hearing his son in the house, he was not able to bring it with him.

Everything that could bring him down was in that box. Every newspaper clipping that Jo had saved about the crime, the divorce papers that "instigated" her suicide.

He knew from listening to his bug that the police strongly suspected him. And he also knew that they had been at his house, as he knew from the messages on his house.

So he stole a car that would throw off the police, because he replaced its plates from the ones off of his car from high school that he had saved. And after carefully planting a bomb in his house, he was trying to eradicate everything and everyone that knew his secrets.

Including his son, who was pulling into Victoria's driveway.

* * *

Matt locked his door, but he was still shaky from his visit to his house. Because of his trembling, he dropped his keys on the ground. 

After standing up, he turned around to see a masked figure, who put his hand around his mouth, and a gun to his head.

"Get back in the car, and follow me," the voice threatened.

"Or what?" Matt protested, after the masked figure removed his hand. "What if I call the police? Or drive away?"

"Then Victoria dies," the voice replied menacingly.

Matt gulped, and climbed back into his car. He drove off, following the masked man in the black car very closely.

* * *

Victoria sat on her countertop, clutching her phone and biting her nails nervously. Matt said that he was on his way to her house, but he should have arrived by then. 

Just then, she heard two voices on her driveway. She quickly climbed off her countertop, took the phone, and slowly crept into the front foyer. Victoria was careful to avoid any windows, as if not to startle the people outside in case they had weapons.

The voices silenced, and Victoria heard their cars pull away. Slowly, she pulled back the curtain and saw nothing in her front yard.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she jumped onto their couch. Suddenly, a loud noise rang through the living room.

She jumped up, but then realized that she had merely just jumped on the remote control and turned on the TV.

Calm down, Victoria, she said to herself. You're just jumpy. There is not a need for this.

Soon after she had comforted herself, the phone rang. Her heart leaped into her throat, until she saw the caller ID.

It was Matt's number.

* * *

The black car brought Matt to a deserted shack in the woods. Matt sat in his car for a second, trying to gather his thoughts or formulate a plan. But then the masked man unmasked himself. 

It was his dad.

"Get out of the car," he yelled. "Call your girlfriend and tell her it's over. I don't want her on my tail."

Matt hesitated, but sonn enough, Sam whipped out his gun. Nervously, Matt dialed her familiar number.

"Hello?" her voice on the other line said. "Matt, where are you?"

"Victoria, I have to end our relationship right now."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, obviously distressed. "Tell me where you are."

Sam pressed the gun into Matt's back.

"I can't," he said, and an idea sprang into his mind. "But mark my words, if a black cat crosses your path, it's sure to mean bad luck."

"What are you talking about?" she replied. "Are you high?"

"No," he nervously replied. "Just following Nancy Drew."

"Are you speaking in code? Should I write this down?"

"Yes," he said, craning his neck to read Sam's "plates." "Just follow the road less traveled down the eight-fold path, two times, F whoever comes in your path, especially UFO's. It's MIA way or the highway."

"I got it," she said. "Don't worry."

"Bye," Matt retorted, and hung up the phone.

"What kind of crap was that?" Sam yelled at his son. "What were you talking about?"

He then bound Matt's ankles and wrists, and threw him into the closet of the shack.


	22. Chapter 22

Victoria tried calling Matt's number back, but every time she called, she would go straight to his voice mail. 

"Oh, Matt. Where are you?" she exclaimed to no one in particular. "If only I could solve his code."

She looked at what she had written once again.

BLACK CAT-BAD LUCK ROAD LESS TRAVELED-FROST 8-FOLD PATH 2 TIMES F WHOEVER COMES IN YOUR WAY UFO'S MIA-MISSING IN ACTION

None of it made sense to her, so she decided to call in a few reinforcements.

* * *

Miranda sat in her mother's rocking chair, rocking little Lizzie back and forth. Her eyes were glued to the TV, watching the scene that had unfolded at the Mcguire's house. 

A bomb located inside the house exploded, killing all of its inhabitants, and destroying everything, including the remnants of a crime scene.

The reporter stood in front of the house that Miranda used to spend so much time at, describing the deadly effects of the bomb. The rescue efforts had identified at least ten that were known to be dead, and two that are missing.

One of the missing peoples was Matt Mcguire, whose whereabouts were still unknown.

Tears were flowing in a free stream down Miranda's cheeks, as she mourned the potential loss of Matt, when he finally was getting his life together. Who could it be? she wondered to herself. Who would do that?

Her cell phone buzzed from inside her pocket, and Miranda glanced at the caller ID.

VICTORIA SMITH

This only caused Miranda to cry even more. She hadn't even thought of Victoria, Matt's girlfriend.

"Hello?" Victoria's voice said.

"I am so sorry," Miranda sobbed. "How are you holding up?"

"What happened?"

"Matt. He's missing. There was an explosion at his house, and he's believed to be..."

There was silence on the other line.

"What time was the explosion?" Victoria asked, her voice cracking and trembling with sadness.

"4:07," Miranda replied, repeating what the newscasters had been saying all afternoon.

Victoria began to quietly sob to herself, thinking of all their plans that were now going to end. It was just a couple of hours ago that they were thinking about marriage.

"I just was with them...I just talked to him," Victoria said, still in shock. But, slowly, her rationale began to regain its strength. "Wait, what time was the explosion?"

"4:07."

Victoria scrolled through the past calls list on her cell phone, until she found the list of incoming calls from that day. Finally, she found Matt's two calls, and with a vibrant sense of hope, she clicked to see what time he called.

The first call took place at 4:05. Victoria's heart began to beat faster and faster, until she saw the time of the second call. 4:30.

He was safe.

"Miranda?" Victoria said. "Matt's not dead, but something happened to him. I need your help."

"Good, Gordo can help us too."

"I already tried calling him, but he hasn't answered his phone"

* * *

Little did they know, that at that very instant, Gordo was slumped against the wall in some stranger's bathroom. He ignored his cell phone ring, confusing it with background music. The whole scene was tad bit fuzzy to him anyhow.

The bottom line was that he was drunk. Very unlike Gordo, but there he was, and he was holding back Erica's hair as she puked into the toilet. She was even more wasted than he was.

How did I get here, he kept wondering to himself. The events of that day were still a blur.

* * *

After returning to his home from the hospital, he gave Erica a call. 

"Hello?"

"It's me, Gordo," he greeted her. "Don't hang up, I talked to your brother."

"Oh," she said quietly, and the other end of the line remained silent for some time.

"I know what happened, and there is nothing to be ashamed of."

"I guess we both have a lot of explaining to do," she finally answered. "I guess we can meet at Starbucks or something to talk."

"How about right now, at the Digital Bean?"

"Great," she said dryly, and hung up the phone.

* * *

Erica was already there when Gordo, sitting alone at a table, with a manilla folder laid in front of her.

"Hi," she said, leaning forward, and Gordo could not help but think about what her mother did. "I brought these to show you."

Gordo carefully opened the folder, and saw a multitude of medical reports.

"These are only a few of my records," she said, wiping a tear away from her eye. "I was just really sick as a child."

Gordo looked her in the eyes and saw that she truly believed that, however right or wrong it was.

"I have so many questions about everything," he began. "What-"

She put her finger on her lips as if to signal to be quiet.

"What is needed to be known will become known with fate. Your turn."

"Ummm...My best friend Lizzie died in a car accident about nine months ago," he explained. "I kind of went into an emotional tailspin after that, but I'm better now. I've had help."

"That's good."

They both sat across the table from each other, eyeing each other.

"What about your mom?" Gordo asked, breaking the silence. "Where is she now?"

"Living with a guy that she wants to marry. She cheated on my dad, with a guy who was cheating on his wife. The whole marriage would be a scam."

They then retreated back into their silent mode, this time being broken by the ring of Erica's cell phone.

"Hello? Hi! Oh, I so want to tonight. Where are you drinking? Okay, can I bring someone? Bye," Erica said to the person who called. Her mood had completely changed with the call. "Do you want to come to a party with me tonight?"

"I don't know," Gordo replied.

"Come on. Have an adventure, and come with me," she urged him. "Let's forget this crap."

"I guess I could..."

"You will. I have to change first."

* * *

Gordo followed Erica to her house, where she then beckoned him up to her room. 

"I look terrible," she said. "I just have to fix my makeup and my hair...and my clothes too."

She retreated into the bathroom, leaving Gordo to take in his surroundings. The room looked like that of a typical teenage girl, littered with clothes, CDs, and books. However, there was a unique collection that caught Gordo's eye.

It was a huge collection of trophies. As Gordo neared closer, he saw that they were track trophies.

"Do you run?" Gordo yelled into the bathroom.

There was a slight pause.

"Not anymore."

Gordo decided to leave the subject alone, and instead quietly sat on her bed.

After about fifteen more minutes, Erica emerged from the bathroom. Gone were the messy bun, the makeup-less face, and the "comfort-driven" clothing. This new Erica was dressed in a glittery tank top and a denim skirt, high heels, and her hair was tousled down her back.

Her eyes were rimmed with dark eyeliner, a stark contrast to the natural look that she exhibited earlier. Gordo was almost speechless: she almost didn't even look like Lizzie anymore. Erica was definitely her own person, and she was breathtakingly gorgeous.

"You look...fantastic," Gordo finally said, at the risk of sounding stupid. "You really do."

Erica smiled, and laughed.

"Thanks, Gordo," she replied. "You look absolutely ravishing as well."

"No need to be sarcastic," he retorted. "You know I look hot."

It was clear to the both of them that the tension that they had earlier was quickly dissipating as they were growing together.

Impulsively, Gordo put his arm around her waist, and pulled her in closer. She immediately acted on his action, and pulled him closer into a kiss.

"I was wondering when you would do that," she said, continuing to passionately kiss him. "Let's go to that party"  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


	23. Chapter 23

As soon as Gordo and Erica walked through the door of the party, smoke billowed out of the large room, causing Gordo to cough. The scene was already making him extremely uncomfortable.

Erica grabbed two beers from a cooler.

"Here's to forgetting...crappiness altogether," she exclaimed, ripping the cap off of hers and chugging the bottle until it was halfway full. "I got you this."

Gordo eyed her uneasily and pushed the bottle away.

"No thanks. I drove."

"No worries," Erica said, beaming. "We can crash here."

Gordo looked around. These were not his type of people, and quite frankly, it worried him that they were Erica's friends.

A tray carting person strode by with a tray full of shots. Erica grabbed one, and downed it in an instant.

"Here?" Gordo asked nervously. He himself wanted to leave at that very instant.

"Yeah. The girl that lives here is one of my best friends. I do it all the time."

Erica scanned the room anxiously as if she was looking for someone better to hang out with. Impulsively, Gordo thought that she was going to ditch him, and grabbed the beer out of her hand.

"I thought you didn't want that," Erica said, glancing at him with a bemused look.

She thinks I'm boring, Gordo thought to himself. I need to prove her wrong.

He downed his, just as she had done hers. It stung his throat, and he wanted to spit it back out. But he kept it down for his own pride's sake.

"Wooo! Go Gordo," Erica yelled, kissing him on the lips. The crowd of partyers eyes were drawn to the couple, and as Gordo looked at their faces closely, he recognized a few of them from school.

They were giving him the strangest looks. I guess I'd better prove them wrong, thought Gordo to himself, and he continued to kiss Erica.

"Erica McKenzie!" a voice that Gordo did not recognize called. ""I've been looking all over for you."

A girl about their age slumped over to Erica and threw her arms around her shoulders in a loose hug. It was clear that this girl had already consumed way too much booze.

Gordo concluded that the girl must be the friend that Erica was talking about. The girl had jet black hair, with pink streaks, and several piercings adorning her face. Kohl-black eyeliner rimmed her eyes, cast atop alabaster white skin with bright red lips.

"Gordo, this is my best friend Jen," Erica said, struggling to support the girl's weight.

Jen raised her glass.

"The very best," she exclaimed. "Welcome to my house. What can I get you to drink?"

Gordo racked his brain for the name of any alcoholic drink, but his rapid search proved to no avail.

"I'll just have another one of these," he answered, tapping his empty beer bottle.

Jen threw her glass on the floor, and got Gordo another drink.

"You guys have a great time," she said, stumbling away.

Erica took Gordo's hand.

"C'mon. Dance with me."

As soon as they got out onto the dance floor, Gordo felt surprisingly uptight as Erica wrapped her arms over his body. He glanced at the couple next to him, and suddenly felt extremely out of place.

"Maybe we should just talk for a little while," Gordo commented, and Erica pouted.

"I think you haven't had enough to drink," she said, running her hands down his chest. "Let's do some shots or something."

She pulled him over to the kitchen area, and grabbed two shot glasses and a bottle of liquor.

"I don't think you can keep up with me," she said, as she filled the two shot glasses.

Even though he had had only one drink, Gordo's judgement was already becoming a little too clouded. A contest seemed like the best idea in the world.

Sixteen shots later, it seemed that much better.

"When the liquor burns my throat, I just think of medicine," Erica slurred. "But that makes me think of my mom, so I want to drink more."

"You know what would be so much quicker?" Erica yelled. "We should totally just drink it straight out of the bottle!"

She took the bottle of liquor in her hand, and poured its remnants into her mouth.

"Great idea!" Gordo yelled back. "Give that to me."

Erica dangled the empty bottle from her hand.

"Oops. All gone."

"I need another drink," Gordo exclaimed, and tore the liquor cabinent open trying to find something. He hadn't felt that free in his whole life.

"Vodka," Erica yelled, opening a bottle and pouring it into his mouth. "I love vodka as much as I love YOU."

She drank the rest in a couple of gulps.

"I LOVE VODKA!" she exclaimed. "Do you know where the bathroom is?"

"Why do you need a bathroom? Let's dance!" Gordo yelled, knowing no inhibitions to his name.

Erica ran out with him onto the dance floor, and the two quickly got into the spirit of things. In all actuality, they made out more than they danced, but that was overlooked on the dance floor.

"I love you," Erica slurred into Gordo's ear. "But I love vodka too. And I loved it first, so..."

She threw her head and laughed.

"Do you do this every weekend?" Gordo asked.

"OF COURSE," she yelled. "The party is always the same..."

She started her sentence, but started to slow down. Erica gradually developed a pallid demeanor, and clutched her mouth with her hand.

"I really need a bathroom now," she said.

But she could not get to a bathroom quick enough, and vomited all over their neighbors.

"Hey!" the man yelled angrily.

"Sorry," Gordo slurred apologetically as he rushed Erica to the nearest bathroom.

Immediately, she positioned herself by the toilet, hurling while Gordo held her hair back.

After about a half an hour, she passed out on the floor, and Gordo sighed while leaning against the door.

Leaning against the frame of the door, he heard loud voices involved in a very loud conversation on the other side.

"Did you see that that whore Erica McKenzie came with a new guy?" one female voice said. "That girl has changed so much."

"I know. Remember middle school?" a male voice answered.

"She was so good at track. I was on the team with her, but she missed so much," the girl remembered.

"She was like the smartest person in our grade, too."

"She still is. Jen told me that she graduated early or something," the girl stated.

"Probably so she can party all the time," the boy retorted. "Every time I see her, she's completely drunk."

"I know, I know...but she did get a 33 on her ACT the first time."

"Still, she's a whore. Remember that beach party over spring break?"

Gordo heard a great amount of laughter escape from the other side of the door frame.

"Remember how she started yelling at her mother she was so drunk?"

"Look what you did to me, Mom!" the male voice imitated. "I still can't believe she made up that huge story. Everybody knows that she missed so much school because she was an alcoholic. Still is."

"Yeah, like whose mom would do such a thing?"

"I think she just wanted attention."

Through Gordo's pounding headache, he still had a thread that could string thoughts together. And he knew that they were talking about Erica. His Erica.

And he knew that they didn't know the whole truth.

Feeling rather brave and chivalrous, Gordo opened the door.

"You don't know what happened to her," he yelled. The couple gave him an amused look, knowing very well who he was.

"And you do?" the girl said condescendingly. "Who are you anyways?"

"I'm her boyfriend. We're going out," Gordo stated with an immense feeling of importance.

"That's what the guy last week said," the girl retorted.

Gordo couldn't help it anymore. He slapped the girl on the face, leaving himself stunned. As the girl clasped her face, Gordo looked down at his own hand in horror.

Gordo, he thought to himself. What has this girl done to you? You're drunk, and you just slapped someone. A girl, for that matter.

But Gordo's thoughts were soon interrupted as the guy decided to retalliate for the girl. He delivered one blow to Gordo's face, sending him to the ground in the bathroom. He was unconscious, as was his girlfriend, and they laid there together. 


	24. Chapter 24

Miranda hung her cell phone up angrily once again, not being able to reach Gordo. 

"This is so unlike him," she remarked. "I bet he's with Lizz...that girl."

Victoria said nothing as she doodled on the paper that she wrote all the clues on.

"He would totally know what to do," Miranda said as she comforted her crying baby.

Victoria just continued to stare at the paper that she had decorated with stars and hearts. After the initial excitement that Matt might still be alive, she was left in almost a kind of shock that he was still gone.

"Oh, Matt. Where are you?" she said quietly.

The garage door burst open and Danny walked in, home from work.

"I just heard about the explosion. I actually saw it on the way home," he exclaimed before he saw Victoria sitting at the table. "Have they found Matt yet?" he whispered quietly to Miranda.

Miranda slowly shook her head to answer no. Danny turned around to face Victoria, who was now ripping the edges of the paper into small bits.

"Hey. How are you doing?" Danny tried to say casually.

Victoria looked up at him, her eyes welling up with tears and her lip quivering. Before she could say anything, she burst into tears.

"Oh dear," Miranda said, handing Lizzie to Danny, and rushing over to Victoria. She took the seat next to her, and clasped her hands.

"He's dead," Victoria sobbed. "He's dead, and we had our whole lives to live together."

"He's not dead," Miranda comforted her. "You talked to him after the explosion, and I know that we can find him with these clues."

"But what if we can't? You've looked at these clues. The're impossible."

Victoria buried her head underneath her folded arms.

Miranda shot Danny a look of desperation, as if to say help.

"Let's go over them again. Maybe Danny can see something," Miranda suggested.

"It's no use. Where is he?" Victoria wailed.

* * *

"He's dead, Lauren. The screen is completely black." 

Lauren and Lizzie sat close to the TV screen, studying Matt's channel.

A tear ran down Lizzie's cheek.

"I was too interested in what Gordo was doing, and I didn't see what happened to him," Lizzie cried. "Omigosh, I wonder how Victoria's holding up."

Lauren just sat there, staring at the TV screen.

There soon was a knock on the door, which Lizzie answered with a greeting to come in.

The older Victoria Smith poked her head in the doorway.

"I just wanted to see if there were any updates," she said quietly.

Lizzie immediately jumped up and ran to give her a giant hug.

"My family is falling apart. Both my mother and brother dead..."

Her words were lost in her sobs. Victoria only hugged tighter, trying to help her make it feel better.

"How's Victoria doing?" Lizzie managed to choke out.

Victoria shook her head solemnly.

"Not very good. She's still in a state of shock," she answered. "Your friend, the one with the baby, is helping her. Their going to try to find him."

"But they can't, Victoria," Lizzie cried. "He's dead."

"We don't know that yet," Victoria replied. "We still need to have hope."

"Lizzie! Come over here!" Lauren exclaimed. "I see something."

Both Lizzie and Victoria rushed over to the screen.

"Look in the upper right-hand corner," she explained. "See that shred of light?"

"Uh-huh," Lizzie answered.

"If he was really dead, the screen would be completely black," Lauren continued. "He must just be somewhere dark or something."

The shred of light got bigger, as it appeared to be a door like shape. Sure enough, it was, and a figure emerged in the doorway.

"Where is he, and who is that?" Lizzie wanted to know.

The three sat on the edge of their seats with bated breath as the figure clicked on a flashlight. They still could not make out any specifics, but they could see that it was masked and that he was carrying a gun.

"Matt," a voice from the figure spoke. Lizzie could not help but notice the eerie familiarity. "Tell me what you know."

Slowly the figure began to unmask himself. As he revealed his face, Lizzie saw who it was.

"Dad?" she said, stunned. "What's going on?"

Sam Mcguire slowly walked towards Matt.

"I'm not telling you anything," Matt yelled. "Until you tell me the whole truth. Starting with your affair."

Quickly, Sam pulled out his gun and shot Matt in the foot. Matt yelped in pain, but tried not to look down at the wound.

"What happenening?" Lizzie sobbed. "Why is he doing this?"

"You're crazy," Matt yelled. "What happened to you?"

Sam pulled out the gun again, but only as a warning this time.

"You really want to know?" he said menacingly. "I'll tell you the whole truth."

* * *

After her sudden burst of emotion, Victoria had ran off "to be more alone." Actually she had just went to the park in the neighborhood, sat on the swingset, and slowly rocked back and forth. 

Her whole world was falling apart. She couldn't relate with her parents, who decided to stay an extra night because her mother wanted to buy new clothes with Donovan. Matt was gone, maybe just temporarily, but maybe forever.

She couldn't help but think of their plans to get married. How perfect it all seemed. The actual thought of happiness just made her cry even more.

But she looked at her watch. 10:08 p.m. It was getting really late, and cold outside as well. She pulled her sweater tighter and shivered, despite the fact that it was only May.

It was getting a little too quiet for her own tastes, but she still didn't want to go back.

"I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known," she sang quietly, trying to break the silence. "Don't know where it goes but it's only me and I walk alone."

Her attempt was not working. Gradually, she sang the continuing bars of the song, getting increasingly louder.

"Sometimes I wish someone would come and find me. Until then I walk alone," she yelled into the darkness.

She began to feel a little better, but she could not help but think that she used to not walk alone. She had Matt, and times were great. Summer was coming, they loved each other, and they were going to be alright.

Thinking about those things, she was overcome by an immense feeling of hope. They would find him, she knew it. As she turned to go back to Miranda and Danny's apartment, she saw a familiar figure.

"Feel better?" Miranda asked, strolling on the sidewalk.

"A little bit. Thank you so much for what you've done," Victoria replied. "I mean, we hardly know each other."

"Seriously, it's no problem," Miranda said, sitting on the swing next to her. "Hey, do you want to stay with us tonight?"

"I'd love that. Thanks," Victoria immediately responded.

"Alright. Let's go home."

* * *

"Tell me what happened, Dad," Matt answered. 

Sam took a deep breath, gripped his gun tightly, and the screen went dead.

"Omigosh," shrieked Lizzie. "HE KILLED MATT!"

Lizzie sobbed violently, running to bury her head in her pillow.

"Wait," Lauren said, picking up the remote. "There's nothing on any of these channels."

Lizzie looked up and saw that it was true; every channel was the same. Completely black.

"You did remember to change the batteries, did you?" asked Victoria.

"It needs batteries? A heaven TV?" Lizzie asked in disbelief.

"Strange but true," Lauren asked. "That was a close one. We all just need to calm down."

"I'll run down and get some really-" Victoria volunteered, but she was interrupted by the telephone.

"Hello?" Lizzie answered.

"Lizzie Mcguire?"

"Yes?"

"Please come to the main foyer. There's someone that would like to see you urgently."


	25. Chapter 25

Gordo woke up with a piercing headache and his cheek stinging from being pressed against a hard tile floor for the time he had passed out. 

Erica was laying on the floor next to him, suddenly giving off a new air of innocence. Her head was laid upon the toilet, and a flannel blanket was draped across her skinny shoulders.

Gordo glanced in the mirror, but was forced to take a longer gaze when he saw the huge bruise.

"You look terrible," he said aloud to no one in particular, gingerly fingering his black eye.

Besides that, his hair was matted to his forehead and his eyes were bloodshot.

"What happened to me last night?"

He heard the clanging of pots and pans downstairs in what he faintly remembered to be the kitchen, and the pressure onto his temples spiked to nearly violent levels.

Gordo bravely ventured into the bright morning by descending the stairway.

"Good morning, Gordo? Right? Here, I made you and Erica this."

The black-haired girl from the night before, Jen he thought, was sitting at the countertop in her kitchen, slightly pushing a mug towards him.

Gordo took a drink slowly, and whatever he was drinking tasted terrible.

"What is this?" he exclaimed, after spitting the liquid back into his mug.

"Don't ask," Jen replied. "To help with your hangover."

Gordo forced the rest down his throat, pausing slowly after each gulp.

"I don't think we were introduced properly last night. I'm Jennifer," she stated.

"Gordo."

"Are you and Erica dating?" she asked, swirling her coffee with a stirrer.

"I'm not really sure of anything anymore," Gordo replied, taking a seat at the countertop across from her. "Do you guys do that every weekend?"

"Yeah. Pretty crazy, right?"

Gordo sighed.

"Can I ask one question? Why?"

"Short answer? We're a bunch of screwed up kids. Long answer?" she said, pausing. "We'll have to get to know each other better."

Gordo raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Please don't judge us. You have no idea."

"I wasn't going to."

The two both looked down at their cups.

"I have a simple request though," Jen said slowly. "Please help Erica."

"What do you mean?"

"Erica is my oldest and best friend...and...she needs help," she stammered, on the verge of tears. "We met in rehab, while I was recovering from anorexia and she from whatever her mom did to her."

She wiped away the tears that were running down her cheeks.

"I know what she used to be. Track star, intellect, top of the class...perfect...and I know that everything for her is slowly going downhill."

"Promise me that you won't break her anymore, at least," Jen continued. "You don't know how hard I try. Every party I attempt to rescue her; it all started with the drinking, then the drugs, and now the banging of any random guy she sees-"

"I am not just some random guy, and we've not even had sex," Gordo stated angrily. "And plus, if you wanted to help her, then why do you create this environment for her?"

"We're not all perfect, Gordo," she replied. "Some of us have our own demons to fight."

She buried her face into arms, wiped away her tears, and reemerged.

"Just go," she said. "I'll take care of her when she wakes up."

And with that, she showed Gordo the doorway.

* * *

MEANWHILE

"Tell me what happened, Dad."

My dad took a deep breath, gripped his gun tightly, and pulled something out of his back pocket.

"Not yet," he exclaimed in answer, and pushed a white rag up to my face.

The rag had a strange smell, sort of sickly sweet. That's all I remembered as everything began to fade to black.

* * *

Lizzie rushed to the main foyer as quickly as she could, but when she got there, she found no sign of anyone she knew, not even Matt.

"Lizzie?" a strangely familiar voice yelled.

She whipped around to see a comforting sight running towards her with open arms.

"My baby," Jo Mcguire exclaimed, wrapping Lizzie up into the tightest hug imaginable. "I've missed you so much."

Lizzie was overjoyed and stunned into silence, but she was overcome by the mere sight of her mom.

"I-I thought you were in Purgatory for committing..." Lizzie managed to stammer out, careful not to say suicide.

"Oh, honey, there's so much I need to tell you. First thing first: I was killed."


	26. Chapter 26

"Killed? What? How?" Lizzie exclaimed. "I mean...but I saw the autopsy and everything, and it looked like..." 

"I know what it looked like. Overdose, wanted to kill myself...fit right in with me being non-responsive in be bed all the time," Jo said matter-of-factly.

"Who?" Lizzie wanted to know.

Jo held her face in a cradle of her hands.

"The whole truth will come to you slowly," she explained. "I was going to try to show you the entire story at nights."

"I want to know everything. Besides, Matt has been kidnapped and is in major danger."

Jo's face immediately darkened.

"What happened?"

"Our house. It exploded, and Matt was believed to be dead, but they had evidence of him calling his girlfriend after the explosion, and I was watching his screen, and he was shot in the foot, and then the screen went black, and they called me to see you, and-"

"Shhh, honey, slow down. I didn't know," she comforted Lizzie, like only a mother could. "We need to combine whatever strength we have to help him."

* * *

-MEANWHILE-  
Matt woke up from what seemed like a long slumber, with a piercing headache, and a still sharp pain in his foot. He still hadn't looked down at it to assess the damage, because he was afraid of what he might see. 

He looked around the small space. Nobody was there, not even Sam. Immediately, Matt began to think thoughts of escape, but as he tried to stand up, it was all he could do just to fall back down.

There was no way he would be able to walk until he got some kind of medical attention. But still, he could not believe how easy Sam left it for him. All he had to do would be to crawl out of the small space that led to the remainder of civilization...

A stinging sense of electricity rang throughout his entire body. Of course Sam covered all of the bases. Matt knew his dad, and he knew that he was not stupid.

Matt slumped against an adjacent wall, and tears flowed freely down his face. He was going to die here. Never to see Victoria ever again, killed by his own father.

* * *

Gordo slowly walked out to his car, not really knowing whether he should have stayed and waited. But all he really wanted to do was get away from that house. 

He wanted the Erica that he met at the mall. The one that stayed with him at the hospital. Not the Erica who was at the party. Alcoholic, possibly drug addicted, and self-pain inflicted. She was almost an issue that he didn't want to touch.

But as he turned the key in the ignition, he realized what he must do.

He quickly turned the car off, and ran back up to the doorstep. Without ringing the doorbell, or even knocking the door, he flung open the door to the house.

Erica had obviously awoken since his departure; she had changed into new clothing, and washed off her makeup. She was sitting on the bottom of the stairwell next to Jen, with a coffee cup in her hand.

Gordo impulsively knew what to do. He grabbed her by the hand, pulled her up to stand in front of him, and kissed her in the most passionate way possible to him.

"Erica McKenzie. I am willing to help you," he said, brushing her hair away from her eyes.

"Gordo, you look horrible," she replied, all the while giggling lightly. "And I don't need help."

Jen looked back and forth between the two of them with disbelief.

"Are you kidd-" Gordo started to exclaim, but he tried his hardest to soften his approach. "From what I saw last night, you were not a person who didn't need help."

"I think I'm beyond any sort of help you could offer me," she tried to say, but with fresh tears streaming down her face.

"I can offer you love," Gordo replied, wrapping her into a giant hug.

Erica broke away gently, pushing Gordo by way of her hand upon his chest.

"Gordo, I'll never be your Lizzie Mcguire. Sweet, innocent, loyal...that's just not me."

Gordo looked into her eyes.

"Maybe that's not what I want. That day I met you, I saw something in you...I want to get to know you better. And I want to help you."

Erica looked at Jen, who was running her finger along the rim of her coffee cup nonchalantly, as if she possibly did not want to be there.

"What do you think, Jen?" Erica asked. "Is he for real?"

The two of them shared an inside laugh of something that was unbeknowst to Gordo.

"I don't know, Ricca. What do you know about this guy?"

Erica gave Gordo a quick once-over.

"Full name, David Gordon. Best friend Lizzie Mcguire was killed in a hit and run accident. Tried to committ suicide. His whole school thinks he's crazy," Erica said, raising her eyebrows, and slightly grinning. "But that's just what my cousin told me."

"I know that he is the whole package: deeply and truly a nice guy, filmmaker, going to NYU, broken over a friend's death, and most of all, he seems to have a thing for me that I cannot understand."

"I say he's good," Jen remarked, taking a slow sip of her coffee, and gazing at Gordo. "I'll leave you two kids alone."

"Gordo, promise me something me something," she said quietly, almost whispering closely to his ear.

"Anything," he replied, patting her back as she moved closer to him.

"After you help me, don't discard me. We both need love."

* * *

BLACK CAT-BAD LUCK ROAD LESS TRAVELED-FROST 8-FOLD PATH 2 TIMES F WHOEVER COMES IN YOUR WAY UFO'S MIA-MISSING IN ACTION 

Victoria gazed at the clues in front of her once again. And once again they seemed all too impossible.

Numbers and letters, individually written, seemed to be a large part of the "code" of which Matt was speaking. She had no idea what that meant, but she thought it would be worth it just to write those down.

82FUFOMIA...It didn't look like anything at all to her. She tried rearranging the letters, but the best she got was IM A 82(28) FUFO. She clenched her hands into fists; she was getting absolutely nowhere.

For a brief second, she thought a diagram would help, but all she got from that was a broken pencil.

"Agh," she softly exclaimed, looking at the broken point of her pencil.

She threw open numerous drawers in their kitchen, trying to find something else to write with, Finally she found a drawer that held various office supplies, and she grabbed a ballpoint pen. But when she tried to shut it, the drawer would not completely close.

There had to be something blocking it, she thought to herself, and she reached to the back of the drawer, closing her hand around a small packet of papers.

It was a letter addressed to Miranda Sanchez, from the Institute of Art and Fashion Design in New York. Victoria did not want to snoop around in her mail, but her curiosity got the best of her.

DEAR MS. SANCHEZ:

WE ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT AFTER REVIEWING YOUR PORTFOLIO, WE WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO JOIN OUR FRESHMEN CLASS NEXT FALL...

Hearing the soft footsteps of someone coming around the corner, Victoria threw the letters back into the back of the drawer, back to their hiding place.

Miranda came and sat at the table where Victoria had been working on the clues.

"You're up early, little investigator. Find anything?"

Victoria shook her head quickly, vowing to herself that no one would ever find out what she found until she talked to Miranda about it herself.

But now was not the time. Danny was coming down the stairs, and baby Lizzie was screaming for breakfast.


	27. Chapter 27

Later, Gordo and Erica sat in the front seats of Gordo's car, driving and riding around town.

Erica fished around in her purse until she pulled out a cigarette, lighting it quickly.

Gordo slammed on his brakes.

"Put that out," he said angrily.

"It's just a cigarette," she replied nonchalantly, jokingly blowing smoke into his face.

"It's just the first step to getting rid of your drug dependency," he said, taking her cigarette and throwing it out the window.

Erica's eyes darkened, but she did not pursue the issue any farther.

"I'm not dependent on drugs," she protested. "I just like to have a good time, that's all."

Gordo sighed and decided to drop the issue momentarily.

"What do you have planned for me today, 'O Master and Commander?" Erica joked.

"Shut up," Gordo said back, though still smiling.

"Steer me in the right direction, towards the great nation of 'soberness'," she continued, making over-the-top quotation marks with her fingers.

"Are you high right now, or are you just normally like this?"

She smiled. "This is completely normal for me. Wanna quit?"

"No," he retorted. "Wanna drink?"

Her face brightened. "Oh yes, I would love some vodka. Remember, I love vodka as much as I-"

"-love you," Gordo finished. "No, I meant coffee, dimwit."

"Oh, sure. I knew that."

He made the all-too familiar turn that would take him to the Digital Bean. 

Pulling into the parking lot, he and Erica saw the owner angrily ripping down signs advertising Matt's appearence the night before, which had been a Friday night.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you ripping those down?" Gordo asked the owner, as he and Erica climbed out of his car.

"The guy didn't show last night. He didn't even call beforehand."

Gordo gave a curious look to Erica, who in fact had no idea why Gordo would care.

"That's not like Matt," he said to her, and when she raised her eyebrows in question, he explained, "Lizzie's brother."

"I mean, he's never flaked out on me before," the owner replied, still seemingly angry.

"I hope nothing happened to him," Erica stated quietly, and Gordo looked at her quickly.

"Why would you say that?"

"Wasn't their house robbed the other day? I mean, what if they were looking for him?"

Gordo nodded in agreement with the idea of hers.

"That's right. Hold that drink, Erica, we need to find out what happened."

They climbed back into the car, leaving the owner still standing outside and feeling extremely puzzled.

"I have this sense that you're right," Gordo explained. "But who would want anything to do with that house or Matt?"

They were both silent for a moment. The silence was broken by the impatient beep of Gordo's phone.

"Your phone's beeping," Erica informed him, and he reached to pick it up out of the cupholder.

"I've got a text message," he said, reading the screen.

The screen read: GORDO, IT'S MATT. I NEED TO TALK. MEET ME IN THE PARKING LOT OF HHS.

Gordo let out a sigh of relief. "It's Matt. He's fine. He wants to talk about something. Probably about that little girlfriend of his."

Quickly, he made a U-turn to the opposite direction, the direction of the high school. After the fast drive, which passed even faster due to the amount of his anxiety, the two pulled into the front parking lot of the high school.

Nobody was there, with the exception of a lone car in the corner.

"That's Liz-I mean Matt's car," Gordo stated. The car began to drive closer to their's.

However, when a lone figure climbed out of the car, it was clear that it was not Matt in the car.

"Who is that?" Erica asked, as he approached the car.

"I don't know," Gordo replied. The man's face was obscured by huge sunglasses and a hat.

The figure pulled out a gun from underneath his shirt.

"GORDO---START THE CAR! OMG, HE'S GOT A GUN!" Erica yelled, locking her door.

Gordo reached for the ignition, but remembered he had taken the key out. Frantically, he searched his surroundings for the key, not being able to find them.

"Run!" he yelled to Erica, who had since burst into tears. She unlocked her door, and started to run as fast as she could.

But she wasn't fast enough. Running, her foot hit a rock, and she tripped, twisting her ankle and skinning her elbow and knee as she landed. She lay on the ground, watching as the man opened the car door, hit Gordo over the head with the gun, and dragged his unconscious body back to his car.

He turned around to face her, and started to walk towards her. Realizing she could not walk, she tried to crawl away, but she was not fast enough.

The man stood over her, holding a white rag. He unmasked himself, just so long that Erica could see a glimspe of his face. She didn't know who the man was, but she thought that she had seen his face before.

He smashed the rag against her face, and soon enough for her, everything was all black. 


	28. Chapter 28

Erica woke up in an unfamiliar room, seemingly white-washed and devoid of any clutter. She had no idea where she was, or where she had been, but the room had an all too familiar feeling. 

A familiar looking girl that Erica may had met before, she vaguely thought to herself. Had she been at Jen's on any given Friday night?

"Erica-" she whispered quietly. "I don't know if you remember me.."

She tried to introduce herself, but the general thought of the idea trailed away in her state of mind.

"Who are you?" Erica exclaimed. "Where am I?"

"Erica," the girl said softly, grazing her arm slightly. "I'm Miranda Sanchez, and I'm Gordo's friend."

Erica tried to sit up in her bed, but her throbbing heartache prevented her from doing so. She tried to hold her hand to her head, but with a seizing realization, she knew why her arm was in such an uncomfortable position. Her right arm was handcuffed to the post of her bed.

"Gordo? Where is he?"

Miranda's eyes clouded with uncertainty, and she glanced to the side as if to avoid the question.

"There was a little suspicion with his...disappearance," she answered. "You really don't remember?"

"I remember select pieces. I just want to know how I got here, and why am I in handcuffs."

Miranda released a heavy sigh, as a nurse accompanied by a police officer entered the room.

"She just woke up. She doesn't remember much," Miranda explained.

"You're not supposed to be in here," the officer retorted. "Didn't we just question you back at the station?"

Erica pulled the covers on her bed up to her chin with her free hand, weighed down with a sinking feeling that something was terribly amiss.

"I wanted to see how she was doing," Miranda replied quietly. "I'll wait outside."

The officer didn't reply, but rolled his eyes as she exited to the waiting room.

"Erica McKenzie. David Gordon has disappeared," he explained bluntly. "I would like to question you about his disappearance."

"I know probably about as much as you," Erica shot back, suddenly annoyed by the nature of his demeanor.

"Let me inform you," he said, retrieving a binder from a table in the room. "Yesterday, around ten at night, a man walking his dog stumbled across David Gordon's abandoned car. You were laying in the backseat, and with a medical investigation, traces of five different drugs were found in your system."

"Drugs?" Erica asked with incredulity. She could not remember what she did and did not do that night, the party at Jen's with Erica. She thought that she only had drank, but she couldn't recall.

"Yes, drugs," he replied shortly. "With your history of mental behavior-"

"What history? What mental behavior?" Erica yelled, apalled at the apparent accusation.

"May I bring up the allegations of child abuse?" he said, browsing through his files. "Munchausen by Proxy syndrome?"

"Its the truth. There is no way you don't believe what I'm saying."

The police officer opened his mouth, but a nearby nurse protectively put her hand on Erica's forehead.

"Can I ask you leave, please?" You're upsetting her," she said gently, attempting to loosen the handcuff.

The officer rolled his eyes, mumbled incoherently, and opened the door.

"Your mother and stepfather will be in here shortly," he said, before exiting the room.

Mother and stepfather? Erica began to panic, as the idea of being with her mom in a hospital jarred her sense of reality. Then again, she was the leading suspect in Gordo's disappearance.

The nurse continued to talk to her gently, probably assuming that Erica was a teen of weak mental health.

Slowly the door opened, and Erica's mom confidently strode to her bedside.

"Can I have a moment alone with her?" she said quietly to the nurse.

The nurse smiled, and quickly exited the room.

For a moment, Erica thought she was a middle-schooler again. This scene had been replayed in her life so many times. Her mom would give her a small white pill ("for your sinuses," she would say) with her breakfast, and within a hour, Erica would be crouched in front of a toilet, violently throwing up her stomach's contents. Sometimes her mother would hand her tissue, if she sneezed. After blowing her nose in the strangely sweet smelling cloth, she would feel light-headed, and her surroundings would slowly fade to black. Then would come the emergency room, and the much dreaded hospital stays. This was such an alive part of her conscious...why didn't they believe what her mother did to her?

How her mother abused her was so hard to prove, though. After Erica's aunt and uncle demanded that Erica stay with them, she had heard the term casually passed around the household in everyday conversations. She carefully researched it medical dictionaries on the internet, astonished at its symptoms. They were, most commonly, what she had been through several times.

And now, she was laying in a hospital bed, with her mother at her bedside, a scene that she had once vowed never to relive.

"Honey," her mother said, brushing a few strands of hair away from her forehead. "How could you do this to yourself, or to that poor boy?"

Her mother's tone was so sympathetic, yet so accusing. If Erica wasn't chained to a bed with a throbbing headache, she would have snapped. Not that it would have helped her case.

"Please don't touch me. Now or ever again," Erica stated calmly, with a strong feeling of detachment.

However, it seemed that her mother didn't hear, or was carefully choosing to ignore her directions.

"You'll just need to come back to me," she said. "This is what happened with your mother's absence."

The door opened again, and another figure walked in, taking the side of Erica's mother.

Erica realized with a painful discovery that it was the man from the parking lot. She knew that he was familiar in some way. Oddly enough, her own stepfather possibly killed her boyfriend, and framed her for the murder.

The man smiled slyly, knowing that he probably committed the perfect crime.

"You've met Sam Mcguire before?" Erica's mother continued. "My husband?"

Erica had the irrestible urge to jump out of her bed screaming, "IT WAS HIM! HE KILLED DAVID GORDON!" but she was able to restrain herself.

"Are you...Matt and Lizzie's dad?" she said calmly. She wanted to make it clear to him that she knew how to play "his game."

"I'd rather not talk about my children, but yes...Matt and Lizzie were the names of my kids," he said, rather coldly.

"Matt Mcguire is not dead," Erica retorted.

Erica's mother sensed the obvious tension between the two, and intervened to prevent further conflict.

"Erica, please do not use that term," she exclaimed. "I'm sorry, dear, she's always been a sort of a problem child."

Erica, during this apology, stared at Sam Mcguire. The best she could do to illicit any sort of guilty reaction would grant her freedom.

* * *

Miranda, meanwhile, sat in the waiting room downstairs. She wanted another chance to talk to Erica, but mostly she was avoiding returning to her house. She and Danny had gotten into a horrendous argument before she left.

It started simply enough. Miranda had gotten a call from a police station, wanting her to come down to the station for questioning on David Gordon. It was late the night before, and Danny still wasn't home from hanging out with his friends. Lizzie was sleeping in her lap, and she was anxiously drumming her fingers on the arm of her chair.

Danny opened the front door, smiling and laughing still from his time with friends. His smile disappeared when he saw Miranda's angry glare.

"What's the matter?" he asked, almost jokingly.

"David Gordon has disappeared, and they want to question me at the station," she stated, adding a icy edge to her words.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked, grabbing a soda from the refrigerator.

"I was waiting-counting-on you to come home."

"What about Victoria?" he asked, picking up and glancing over the sports section from the newspaper.

"Her parents are home, so she went back to her house."

"Couldn't you take Lizzie with you?"

"Take my INFANT daughter to the POLICE STATION?"

She stood up from her chair, looking at Danny eye to eye.

"Sorry, then I guess. I didn't mean to hinder you AT ALL," Danny replied sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, I know I'm your husband and everything, but don't use me as anything. An excuse, scapegoat, whatever. I've sacrificed JUST as much as you, and you're the one that made the mistake," he replied, angrily.

"I wasn't accusing you of anything! I just wanted you to be home to take care of Lizzie!"

"Whatever. I found the acceptance letter from that art school in New York, the one you applied for after you got pregnant. What did you expect? Someone magically would just come along and take care of your baby? I don't want to be your permanent babysitter while you're off to bigger and better things. I love you."

Miranda was shocked into silence. The only sound in their immediate surroundings was the cry of Lizzie, awoken by their yelling.

"I'll take her tonight. Go get interrogated or whatever. But before you come back here, remember...I gave up a full basketball scholarship to UCLA for you."

A tear ran down Miranda's cheek as she relived the events of the fight. Both of them had said ugly, mean words to each other, words that could not be taken back. She had not returned since their fight; after being questioned the night before, she immediately went to the hospital,where she slept in her car.

She glanced at her wedding ring on her finger, as she remembered their quick wedding at the courthouse. Lizzie was in her arms, wrapped in a pale pink blanket. Danny quickly and surely signed his life away, never looking back on anything he would sacrifice.

"Ahem."

Miranda looked up at an extremely good-looking young man, with gently curling dark-brown hair covering one of his dark eyes.

"I was wondering if you had the time," he said.

"I don't have a watch on me, actually, but there's a clock right behind you," Miranda answered smiling politely.

He turned around, and saw the clock on the table.

"Oh, so there is."

He looked at the clock much longer than he needed to, finally turning around to face Miranda again.

"Okay, so I didn't actually want the time."

"What did you want?" Miranda asked curiously.

"I guess I just wanted an excuse to talk to you."

"Oh," Miranda said, looking at the floor almost sheepishly. This guy was obviously gorgeous, and while she was flattered at his attraction, she felt extremely guilty.

"You see, I was sitting in that chair over there, and I saw you. Almost instantly, I had this feeling that we needed to talk...that we would be HUGE in each others' lives."

She couldn't help but laugh nervously. Now she was extremely flattered.

"I'm Aidan," he finished.

"I'm sorry, Aidan, but I'm married," she said, holding up her left hand. His gorgeous face fell with obvious disappointment.

"I'm extremely sorry that I bothered-"

"But I'll go to lunch with you," she interrupted. "I'm Miranda"

* * *

Matt awoke the next morning to see a new familiar face sitting across from him. He was still groggy from his sleep on the rocky ground, but the familiar dark brown curly hair caught his attention.

"Gordo?" he said, disbelievingly.

"I thought you were never going to wake up," Gordo replied.

Matt rubbed his eyes, and got a better look at Gordo. He had a black eye, and several bruises and scratches scattered throughout his features.

"You look like crap," Matt said.

"As do you," Gordo responded.

The two sat in silence for a few moments, as Matt glanced around to see where his father was.

"Your dad's not here," Gordo quickly stated.

"How did you get here?"

"Text message from you, actually. I was with Erica, and didn't know that you disappeared. You, or your dad I must say, asked me to come to HHS, where I was attacked. The next thing I remember is waking up here, and your dad hasn't been back since. Oh-by the was-your boss is pissed that you missed Friday. So, what happened to you?" Gordo explained quickly, and almost cheerily.

"Well, my house blew up right after I was there getting stuff, I called Victoria and told her I needed to tell her something. When I got to her house, my dad pulled a gun on me outside my car, made me get in and follow him. He made me call Victoria and "break up," so I slipped in a few hints. Then he shot me in the foot."

"I have a question," Gordo declared.

"Shoot."

"Why did you follow him? It would have been really easy just to not follow him, and go to the police."

Gordo looked at him expectantly, searching for an easy answer.

"He said he would kill Victoria if I didn't follow him, and he's..." Matt began to say, before his voice trailed away.

"He's what?"

"He's my dad. I would like to believe that he wouldn't hurt me. Ever," he continued. "But now I know that he's going to kill us."

"Kill?" Gordo asked disbelievingly.

"Why would he gather you and I here? To kill us, that's why. I wonder who's next? Miranda?" Matt supposed. "I just hope that nothing has happened to Victoria."

"Erica, either," Gordo said. "She was with me, and I don't know what happened to her. I wouldn't put it past your dad to do something to her."

"Yeah, knowing him he'll do something clever and trapping. Oh, I almost forget," Matt said, pulling a picture out of his pocket. The picture was well-worn and creased, and had a couple of tick marks lining the top edge.

"What's that?" Gordo asked.

Matt flashed the picture, a picture of him and Victoria, at him quickly, and went back to writing something on the back.

"What are you doing?"

"Penning a memoir," Matt responded sarcastically. "No, I'm actually writing a note to Victoria. Just to have on me for when they find my body."

"Morbid much?"

"I want to stay alive, just so that I can see her again. She's keeping me living at this moment."

Gordo patted him on the back, and slumped against the wall again.

"I hate your dad"  
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End file.
